New Delhi: The White House on Monday warned Congress that the United States was running out of time and money to help Ukraine fight its war with Russia.
In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Budget Director Shalanda Young warned the US will run out of funding to send weapons and assistance to Ukraine by the end of the year, reported Associated Press.
As per the report, Young emphasized the need to approve tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance to Ukraine, saying Kyiv’s war effort to defend itself from Russia’s invasion may grind to a halt without it.
She further stated that the US already has run out of money that it has used to prop up Ukraine’s economy, and “if Ukraine’s economy collapses, they will not be able to keep fighting, full stop.”
“We are out of money — and nearly out of time,” she wrote, reported AP.
Earlier in October, President Joe Biden’s administration had asked Congress for nearly $106 billion to fund ambitious plans for Ukraine, Israel, and US border security.
However, Republicans control the House of Representatives with a slim majority, and funding for Ukraine has become politically controversial with some right-leaning lawmakers, reported Reuters.
Congress already has allocated $111 billion to assist Ukraine, including $67 billion in military procurement funding, $27 billion for economic and civil assistance, and $10 billion for humanitarian aid. Young wrote that all of it, other than about 3% of the military funding, had been depleted by mid-November, according to AP.
The Biden administration has said it has slowed the pace of some military assistance to Kyiv in recent weeks to try to stretch supplies until Congress approves more funding.
“We are out of money to support Ukraine in this fight,” Young wrote. “This isn’t a next year problem. The time to help a democratic Ukraine fight against Russian aggression is right now. It is time for Congress to act.”