US President Joe Biden pleaded with Republicans for a fresh infusion of military aid for Ukraine yesterday, warning that a victory for Russia over Ukraine would leave Moscow in position to attack Nato allies.
Biden spoke as the United States planned to announce $175mn in additional Ukraine aid from its dwindling supply of money for Kyiv.
“If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there,” Biden said. Putin will attack a Nato ally, he predicted, and then “we’ll have American troops fighting Russian troops,” Biden said.
“We can’t let Putin win,” he said.
The White House warned this week that the US is running out of time and money help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion.
By mid-November, the US Defence Department had used 97% of $62.3bn in supplemental funding it had received and the State Department had used all of the $4.7bn in military assistance funding it had been allocated, US budget director Shalanda Young said this week.
An American official said the United States has less than $1bn in “replenishment authority.” This means that if Congress does not provide new funds to buy replacement equipment, and the Pentagon runs out of funds it can reprogramme to keep corporate contracts flowing, the US, Ukraine and arms makers may be forced to take other steps to backfill stocks.
Border security with Mexico is a major issue weighing on the negotiations about Ukraine and Israel funding.
House and Senate Republicans are backing renewed construction of a border wall, former president Donald Trump’s signature goal, while deeming large numbers of migrants ineligible for asylum and reviving a controversial policy under which asylum seekers are told to remain in Mexico while their immigration case is heard.
Biden said he was willing to make “significant” compromises on the border issue but said Republicans will not get everything they want.
“This has to be a negotiation,” he said.