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A short-term move carries political and military dangers as Biden’s leadership considers tapping back into U. S. reserves.
By Eric Schmitt
Report from Washington
The Biden administration is supplying Ukraine with much-needed weapons and ammunition from the Pentagon’s stockpile, even though the government has run out of cash to upgrade those munitions, according to two U. S. officials and a senior lawmaker.
Such a move would be a short-term measure aimed at triumphing over Ukraine’s armed forces until Congress breaks a months-long stalemate and passes a larger military aid package for the country, the officials said.
But by again tapping into the Pentagon’s stockpiles, the leadership is weighing the political dangers and doubts about the U. S. military’s readiness.
“It’s anything that I know is on the table,” Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who heads the Armed Services Committee, said in an interview. Reed, who recently returned from a vacation in Ukraine, said the measure was a component of “gradual uses to buy time. “
The U. S. has Ukraine on about $44. 2 billion in military aid since Russia introduced its full-scale invasion two years ago.
About a portion of that amount is sent as part of the so-called presidential withdrawal authorization. This allows the leadership to move the Pentagon’s arsenal to Ukraine without delay rather than waiting for the months or years it might take for defense contractors to manufacture weapons under new contracts. . The last expedition took up position in December.
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