Nearly $6B in Ukraine aid at risk if Congress doesn’t act by month-end

Nearly $6 billion in U.S. funding for aid to Ukraine will expire at the end of the month unless Congress acts to extend the Pentagon’s authority to send weapons from its stockpile to Kyiv, according to U.S. officials.

U.S. officials said the Biden administration has asked Congress to include the funding authority in any continuing resolution lawmakers may manage to pass before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 in order to fund the federal government and prevent a shutdown. Officials said they hope to have the authority extended for another year.

They also said the Defense Department is looking into other options if that effort fails.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the funding talks, did not provide details on the options. But they said about $5.8 billion in presidential drawdown authority, or PDA, will expire. Another $100 million in PDA does not expire at the end of the month, the officials said. The PDA allows the Pentagon to take weapons off the shelves and send them quickly to Ukraine.

They said there is a little more than $4 billion available in longer-term funding through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative that will not expire at the end of the month. That money, which expires Sept. 30, 2025, is used to pay for weapons contracts that would not be delivered for a year or more.

Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that as the Defense Department comptroller provides options to senior defense and military service leaders, they will look at ways they can tap the PDA and USAI funding.

He said it could be important to Ukraine as it prepares for the winter fight.

“One of the areas that we could do work with them on … is air defense capabilities and the ability to defend their critical infrastructure,” Brown told reporters traveling with him to meetings in Europe. “It’s very important to Ukraine on how they defend their national infrastructure, but also set their defenses for the winter so they can slow down any type of Russian advance during the winter months.”

Earlier Thursday at the Pentagon, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the press secretary, noted that the PDA gives the Pentagon the ability to spend money from its budget to send military aid to Ukraine. Funding in the $61 billion supplemental bill for Ukraine passed in April can reimburse the department for the weapons it sends.

“Right now, we’re continuing to work with Congress to see about getting those authorities extended to enable us to continue to do drawdown packages,” said Ryder. “In the meantime, you’re going to continue to see drawdown packages. But we’ll have much more to provide on that in the near future."

The U.S. has routinely announced new drawdown packages — often two to three a month.

Failure by lawmakers to act on the PDA funding could once again deliver a serious setback in Ukraine’s battle against Russia , just five months after a bitterly divided Congress finally overcame a long and devastating gridlock and approved new Ukraine funding.

Delays in passing that $61 billion for Ukraine earlier this year triggered dire battlefield conditions as Ukrainian forces ran low on munitions and Russian forces were able to make gains. Officials have blamed the monthslong deadlocked Congress for Russia's ability to take more territory.

Since funding began again, U.S. weapons have flowed into Ukraine, bolstering the forces and aiding Kyiv’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. Ukraine’s forces stormed across the border five weeks ago and put Russian territory under foreign occupation for the first time since World War II.

据美国官员称，除非国会采取行动延长五角大楼向基辅运送武器的授权，否则美国对乌克兰近60亿美元的援助资金将于本月底到期。

美国官员表示，拜登政府已要求国会在9月30日财政年度结束前通过的任何持续拨款决议中纳入拨款授权，以确保联邦政府获得资金并避免政府停摆。官员们表示，他们希望该授权能够再延长一年。

他们还表示，如果这一努力失败，国防部正在考虑其他方案。

这些官员在匿名讨论资金谈判时并未透露具体方案细节，但他们表示，约58亿美元的总统撤军授权（PDA）即将到期。官员们还表示，另有1亿美元的PDA不会在本月底到期。PDA允许五角大楼从仓库调拨武器并迅速运往乌克兰。

他们表示，通过乌克兰安全援助计划提供的长期资金略高于40亿美元，这笔资金不会在本月底到期。这笔资金将于2025年9月30日到期，用于支付一年或更长时间后才能交付的武器合同款项。

参谋长联席会议主席 CQ Brown 将军周四表示，随着国防部财务主管向高级国防和军事部门领导人提供各种选择，他们将研究如何利用 PDA 和 USAI 的资金。

他说，这对于正在备战冬季战争的乌克兰来说可能非常重要。

布朗在随行前往欧洲参加会议的记者会上表示：“我们可以与他们合作的领域之一是防空能力和保护其关键基础设施的能力。这对乌克兰来说至关重要，不仅关系到如何保护其国家基础设施，还关系到如何做好冬季防御，以便在冬季减缓俄罗斯的任何进攻。”

周四早些时候，五角大楼新闻秘书帕特·莱德少将指出，《公共设计法案》（PDA）赋予五角大楼从其预算中拨款向乌克兰提供军事援助的权力。4月份通过的610亿美元乌克兰补充拨款法案中的资金可以报销国防部向乌克兰提供的武器费用。

“目前，我们正继续与国会合作，争取延长相关授权，以便我们能够继续推出撤资方案，”莱德说。“与此同时，你们还会看到撤资方案陆续推出。但我们将在近期公布更多相关信息。”

美国经常宣布新的财政削减方案——通常一个月两到三个。

就在五个月前，国会内部严重分裂，终于克服了长期而破坏性的僵局，批准了新的乌克兰援助资金。而如今，如果立法者未能就PDA拨款采取行动，可能会再次给乌克兰对抗俄罗斯的斗争带来严重挫折。

今年早些时候，对乌克兰610亿美元的援助迟迟未能通过，导致战场局势急剧恶化，乌克兰军队弹药短缺，而俄军则趁机取得进展。官员们将俄罗斯得以占领更多领土归咎于国会长达数月的僵局。

自美军恢复拨款以来，美国武器源源不断地流入乌克兰，增强了乌克兰军队的实力，并协助基辅入侵俄罗斯库尔斯克地区。五周前，乌克兰军队越过边境，自二战以来首次将俄罗斯领土置于外国占领之下。