Defence secretary promises US ‘will not let Ukraine fail’
Defence secretary Lloyd Austin has vowed that the US will continue to support Ukraine’s war effort against Russia even though Congress remains stalled over funding to send additional weapons to the front.
“The United States will not let Ukraine fail,” said Mr Austin, addressing more than 50 defence leaders from Europe and around the world who are meeting at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
“This coalition will not let Ukraine fail. And the free world will not let Ukraine fail,” he added.
The meeting comes a week after US defence officials managed to find $300 million in contract savings to fund a new package of military aid for Ukraine, pulling weapons from pentagon stocks.
It was the first tranche of weapons sent since December as battlefield conditions in Ukraine have been getting increasingly dire.
The money - which officials called a “one-time shot” – allowed the Defence Department to use presidential drawdown authority (PDA) to pull weapons and equipment from Pentagon stocks and send them quickly to Ukraine.
The funds are then used to buy replacement items to ensure the US military is ready to fight and protect the homeland.
US leaders had insisted for the past three months that they could not take more weapons off the shelves because they have run out of money to replenish the stocks.
Congress has been dead locked for months over a new $95 billion supplemental Bill that includes about £60bn in aid for Ukraine.
US officials maintain there is bi partisan support for the package but a number of Republicansoppose it and house speaker Mike Johnson has refused to bring the Bill to the House floor for a vote.
Funding to train Ukrainian forces is also at risk. The US Army regional command for Europe and Africa, which is based in Germany, has spent more than $500m out of its budget so far this fiscal year to conduct the training and expects to run out of money by June, according to US officials.
The command spent about $2bn for training in the fiscal year that ended last September 30, which was paid for through supplemental funding passed by Congress.
The US has trained about 19,000 Ukrainian forces to date, the bulk of them at the Army bases in Germany.
All together, the international coalition has trained more than 129,000 Ukrainian sat more than 100 different locations around the world.
Training has slowed a bit, as the US is waiting for the next large tranche of Ukrainian troops to arrive. Scheduling can be difficult because Ukraine often has to pull troops from the battlefront to send them for training.
Us officials have been publicly expressing the hope that politicians will manage to act soon to approve the supplemental Bill but they have also been struggling to find other ways to get assistance to Ukraine.
Defence officials continue to warn that Ukraine remains heavily out gun ned by russia on the battlefield, and note persistent reports of ukrainian troops rationing or running out of ammunition on the front lines.
This coalition will not let Ukraine fail. And the free world will not let Ukraine fail Lloyd Austin