The administration of US President Joe Biden is working on a plan to expand the authority to send $5.9 billion worth of US weapons and equipment to Ukraine before the funding expires at the end of the month, Politico reports, UNN writes.
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The authority, part of the Ukraine aid package passed in April, allows the Pentagon to use its own stockpiles to rapidly transfer weapons and equipment to Ukraine. The money is then spent on replacing that equipment in U.S. arsenals, but this authority expires with the start of the new fiscal year on October 1.
"The new workaround-which requires the administration to announce that it is using the remaining aid in the coming months-will allow the Pentagon to continue to supply weapons to Kyiv. However, under this method, the United States will not be able to introduce new types of equipment that were not in previous deliveries," the report said.
If this is implemented in time, "deliveries can go beyond [the fiscal year] without a problem," said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Charlie Dietz. Although the White House wanted Congress to include the money in funding that would keep the government open beyond October 1, this option would keep it open even without congressional action, the newspaper said.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Alabama) called the absence of a Ukraine continuing resolution in Speaker Mike Johnson's proposed three-month funding package "not a real problem" if the administration decides to release the money within the next week.
"As far as I'm concerned... as long as the White House tells us they're going to use them, we don't really have a problem," Rogers said.
Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, said: "I understand that there is already a workaround" that the Biden administration plans to use. "I'm not exactly sure how they're going to do it, but I'm told that's the case.
"They're going to try to get around it, the administration is going to try, because [the Ukrainians] need resources right now so they can implement their 'victory plan,' which I think is extremely important," said Gregory Meeks, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Meeks said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom he met on Monday at the UN General Assembly, is likely to push the issue in meetings with President Joe Biden and during Zelenskyy's visit to Capitol Hill on Thursday.
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