US senators demand over $50 billion for Ukraine: Key details revealed
Photo: US senators demand over $50 billion for Ukraine (freepik.com)
Two senators are calling on the United States to allocate more than $50 billion in aid to Ukraine over the next two years. The proposal includes not only military support but also the use of frozen Russian assets, The Hill reports.
The bipartisan senators introduced a bill on Thursday that calls for spending tens of billions of dollars on aid to Ukraine over the next two years.
This comes as Russian leader Vladimir Putin continues to reject US President Donald Trump's calls to end the war.
The bill was introduced by:
- Jeanne Shaheen - a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a member of the Appropriations Committee;
- Lisa Murkowski - a member of the Appropriations Committee.
According to Shaheen's office, the total spending under the bill exceeds $50 billion.
The Shaheen-Murkowski bill follows a Senate committee proposal for a defense funding bill that includes $1 billion in military aid for Ukraine.
However, the bill is expected to face major obstacles in the Republican-controlled Congress, where GOP leaders in both the House and Senate largely align with Trump on which bill makes it to the floor.
The administration has already scaled back foreign aid, and both administration officials and some Republican lawmakers regularly rally against sending American military and other assistance abroad.
Shaheen and Murkowski are presenting their bill as one that would give Trump additional tools to pressure Putin into negotiations.
The introduced bill provides for billions in direct military aid to Ukraine, but a significant portion of the funding is earmarked for investing in US defense manufacturing. It also proposes new mechanisms for financing support for Kyiv.
The bill also includes:
- use of interest earned from frozen Russian assets in the US to fund aid to Ukraine;
- transferring "seized" or "illicit" weapons from non-state actors to Ukraine or using the sale of these weapons to fund military equipment for Ukraine;
- giving US allies priority in purchasing American-made defense equipment, which would then be sent to Ukraine.
As previously reported, on July 31, the US Senate Appropriations Committee approved a 2026 defense spending bill that includes approximately $1 billion in military aid for Ukraine.
In addition, just before that, the US Senate Armed Services Committee approved $500 million in security assistance for Ukraine as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2026.
