The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has published the text of an initiative regarding funding assistance to Ukraine, which could be approved as soon as this Saturday.
RBC-Ukraine reports on what exactly is included in the Speaker's initiative.
Amount of assistance
The document specifies that the total amount of assistance is $60.84 billion, of which $23.2 billion will be used to replenish American arms, stocks, and facilities.
In particular:
- $23.2 billion will be used to replenish defense goods and services provided to Ukraine,
- $11.3 billion will be used for current military operations of the US in the region,
- $13.8 billion will be used to purchase modern defense systems, goods, and services of defense nature,
- $26 million will be used for the continuation of monitoring and accountability for the assistance and equipment provided to Ukraine.
The new initiative strengthens oversight through personal monitoring requirements. It also requires partners and allies to pay their share through expenditure compliance requirements.
It entails an agreement for the return of funds for economic support from the government of Ukraine.
ATACMS
An important point of the initiative is that this bill obliges the President of the United States to transfer long-range operational-tactical missile systems to Ukraine in the shortest possible time after it comes into force.
However, the text specifies that if, in the opinion of the head of state, the transfer of ATACMS will harm the interests of US national security, then he can postpone their transfer. In this case, the President of the United States must inform the defense committees of Congress, the appropriations committees, and the international relations committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Difference from the previous bill
Johnson's current initiative generally corresponds to the bill that the Senate approved in February, which President Joe Biden and his fellow party members in Congress insisted on passing.
This means that Democrats in the House of Representatives will have grounds to support it. In this case, there should be enough votes to approve assistance to Ukraine, even if some Trumpist Republicans refuse to vote for it.
The total amount of assistance to Ukraine in the current bill even slightly exceeds the amount envisaged in the Senate bill: $60.8 billion versus $60.2 billion.
$23.2 billion is allocated for replenishing stocks of arms in American warehouses (the Senate proposed allocating $20 billion), $11.3 billion is proposed for actions of American forces in Eastern Europe (the Senate proposed $15 billion), and $14 billion is allocated for Ukraine's purchase of arms, as in the Senate version.
US assistance to Ukraine
Earlier the United States ran out of funds for financing assistance to Ukraine. Since last fall, the issue of allocating new funds has been referred to Congress. In February of this year, the Senate approved a bill that included funding for assistance to Ukraine ($60 billion), Israel, and other US partners.
However, the House of Representatives did not consider this document at that time. One of the reasons for this was the refusal of the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, to vote for it due to the influence of Donald Trump.
For more information about Johnson's initiative and its chances of passing Congress, read the material by RBC-Ukraine.
