White House sends classified report to Congress, without which it threatened to block aid to Ukraine — Reuters
US President Joe Biden's administration sent congressional lawmakers a classified report on the war in Ukraine, which previously prompted some congressmen to threaten to block further funding to Kyiv as part of the $61 billion package passed in April, Reuters writes with reference to sources.
Sources of the publication in Congress confirmed that they received the White House report, but lawmakers have not yet had time to review it. The report was requested of the Biden administration after Congress approved a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine in April.
It had to be submitted before the beginning of June. Weeks after that deadline passed, some members of Congress said they were considering blocking further funding.
At the end of August, Reuters received a statement from Senator Jim Risch, who said that he supports aid to Ukraine, but does not do it "blindly."
"Since the earliest days of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's war on Ukraine, we have asked the Biden-Harris Administration for a strategy on how the U.S. and our allies can help Ukraine win the war," the senator said, adding that this indicates that the White House is likely there is no such strategy if it has not arrived after the deadline.
$61 billion to help Ukraine
US military aid to Ukraine was exhausted at the end of 2023. Back in October 2023, US President Joe Biden submitted a request to Congress for the allocation of $106 billion, of which over $61 billion was earmarked for Ukraine, mostly for the purchase of weapons from the United States.
From then until April 2024, the American parliament could not vote for this aid package. However, everything changed on April 20 when the House of Representatives finally supported this bill.
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