By Hannah Nightingale – The Postmillennial
During a Thursday White House press briefing, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that additional funding will continue to be needed for the war in Ukraine. This is in addition to the sums already given, and the $24 billion President Biden is looking to authorize this week.
Sullivan revealed that the US has provided roughly $47 billion in military assistance, around $1.5 billion per month in direct budget support, and around $10 billion in humanitarian assistance.
Speaking in regard to the looming government shutdown, Sullivan said “we will want to see additional funding for Ukraine after the end of the fiscal year, so after September 30, meaning that we would like additional resources from the Congress on October 1 to ensure that there’s no disruption in the supply of funding.” The government will shut down if Congress does not come to an agreement on a continuing budget resolution by September 30. Republicans in both the House and the Senate have said that they will not agree to a CR that includes further funding for Ukraine.
One reporter asked whether there would be a disruption, to which Sullivan said, “there’s a sliding scale of disruption, but the day after the funds lapse or run out at the end of the fiscal year, there would be a break if we do not get the funding starting October 1.” Senator Lindsay Graham has said that he’s concerned for the future of Ukraine if the US does not continue funding the war.
“That’s why we are making the case to the Congress that we should see additional funding.”
Reading out his notes at the beginning of the press conference, Sullivan said Biden “will announce a new package of military assistance today that includes significant air defense capabilities to help Ukraine protect its people,” coming as Ukrainian President Zelensky is visiting the nation’s capital.
“Jake, what are you telling congressional leaders about how much more aid is needed to ensure Ukraine can win the war, not just the state of the war? What timeline are you sharing with them?” one reporter asked.
Sullivan said the Biden administration has put forward a proposal and “we’ve actually laid out in some detail every element of assistance that we believe is necessary to get us to the end of this year,” as well as what next year would look like in terms of economic, military, and humanitarian support.
“War is inherently unpredictable, of course, so I can’t look you in the eye and I certainly can’t look them in the eye and predict exactly what’s going to happen on exactly what timetable, and therefore, we need to have a degree of flexibility and adaptability in our approach as we have since the beginning of this conflict.”