US President Joe Biden’s administration has asked Congress to extend the Presidential Arms Reduction Authority (PDA) until 2025 to preserve approximately $6 billion for Ukraine after the fiscal year ends on September 30. About this writes edition of The Hill.
The White House offered to include continued funding in a resolution offered by House Speaker Mike Johnson. Those funds expire at the end of September, and without an extension, the remaining $5.9 billion, minus $100 million, will be unavailable.
“We have $5.9 billion left for Ukraine under the president’s arms reduction authority; all but $100 million expire at the end of the fiscal year.”, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said in a letter to reporters.
As The Hill notes, if Congress approves Biden’s request for $5.8 billion, it will allow Ukraine to continue sending military aid gradually, several times a month.
The Pentagon emphasized that new aid packages to Ukraine will continue to be provided in the near future, and added that active cooperation is underway with Congress to extend the PDA beyond the end of the fiscal year. The Biden administration is using this authority to quickly transfer weapons to Ukraine, drawing resources directly from the US Department of Defense stockpile.
Sources in Congress also reported that Biden may announce the allocation of $5.8 billion to Ukraine by October 1, after which these funds will be gradually used over the next year. However, this option is considered less convenient.
We will remind that on September 11, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, during his visit to Kyiv, confirmed the desire of the US to help Ukraine win the war with the Russian Federation and announced a new aid package in the amount of $717 million.
