U.S. won't be able to sustain weapons transferred to Ukraine without funding - Pentagon
Patrick Ryder (Getty Images)
The United States will be unable to transfer necessary weaponry to Ukraine and support the provided systems without additional funding from Congress, according to the Pentagon representative Patrick Ryder during his briefing.
Ryder said that a lack of funding forced the Pentagon to suspend the withdrawal of weapons from its reserves. "And this, of course, prevents us from meeting Ukraine's most urgent battlefield needs to include things like artillery rounds, anti-tank weapons, air defense interceptors," he said.
According to him, without additional funding, the Pentagon cannot provide systems and equipment that meet Ukraine's medium and long-term needs, "and help them sustain systems that we've previously provided to them."
"We will continue to work closely with Congress and urge supplemental funding as soon as possible," Ryder said.
The Pentagon representative emphasized that "Ukraine has a vote when it comes to fighting on the battlefield, but clearly, the threat is real."
"And I think, the fact that Russia continues to demonstrate an intent to fight against Ukraine and to occupy Ukraine and to eliminate Ukraine as a country highlights the fact that this is a serious security threat that is not going to go away," he said.
At the same time, he stressed that "the sooner that we're able to continue to provide the levels of support that we have, the better, not only for Ukraine, but for the international community."
Assistance from Ukraine's allies
The U.S. has provided Ukraine with over $44.2 billion in security assistance since Russia's invasion in February 2022. About $23.6 billion of this amount was taken from existing military stocks, and nearly $19 billion in the form of long-term military contracts for goods that will take months.
Thus, even though funds are depleted, a portion of previously purchased weapons will continue to arrive. An additional $1.7 billion was provided by the U.S. State Department as foreign military financing.
Assistance to Ukraine and Israel totaling over $110 billion has stalled due to disagreements between Congress and the White House on other political priorities, including additional security on the U.S.-Mexico border.
