Pentagon Weighs Military Aid for Ukraine Amid Congressional Stalls

28 February, 2024 Military aid from the USA, January 2022. Photo from open sources. The Pentagon is weighing whether to use the last source of Ukraine's military funding, even without guarantees that those funds will be replenished by Congress.

CNN reported on this. The Defense Ministry still has around £4 billion, which allows the Pentagon to draw from its own stockpiles to send military equipment to Ukraine. But the Pentagon had previously been reluctant to spend any of that remaining money without assurances it would be reimbursed by Congress, because taking from DoD stockpiles with no plan to replenish that equipment could impact U.S. military readiness.

Artillery shells in Scranton, Pennsylvania, February 2023.

Photo credits: Brendan McDermid / Reuters.

No decisions have been made yet, but the conversations about that option and other potential plan Bs have become increasingly urgent. "The DoD continues to urge Congress to pass a supplemental to support Ukraine in its time of need and to replenish our stocks," Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col.

Garron Garn said. Officials said the department could go ahead and spend part of that £4 billion even without finding money internally that could be used to replenish it. It is reported that it would not be unprecedented for the Pentagon to find additional, unexpected sources of funding.

Last year, the U.S. Defense Department announced that it had discovered an accounting error that led to DoD overvaluing the amount of aid it was providing to Ukraine by £6.2 billion. That extra money provided a cushion to the department that allowed it to draw out military assistance to Ukraine for longer than anticipated.

M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle of the Ukrainian military.

June 2023. Ukraine. Photo credits: @winua22.

Asked on Tuesday whether the department was considering spending some of the remaining money, Pentagon press secretary Gen.

Patrick Ryder said he had nothing to announce but that the Pentagon was continuing to explore ways to keep supporting Ukraine. "We're going to continue to look at ways that we can support Ukraine in their fight for freedom and to preserve their sovereignty," Ryder said. A separate defense official told CNN that the next aid package to Ukraine, if it comes, "will absolutely include critical munitions."

There are also discussions about how and where to preposition military equipment so that it can be sent as quickly as possible to Ukraine once additional funding sources are identified.