White House officials have warned that funds earmarked for military aid to Ukraine will run out by the end of the year, and that could lead to Ukraine being "overwhelmed" on the battlefield.
Saranda Young, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, issued the warning in a letter to congressional leaders.
The letter revealed that the United States had run out of money to prop up the Ukrainian economy.
"If the Ukrainian economy collapses, they will not be able to continue fighting and stop completely," she wrote. "We are running out of money and we are running out of time."Reported that the US Senate Majority (Democratic) leader Chuck Schumer announced that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will speak via video link at a classified briefing on December 5.
Schumer said the White House invited Zelensky to speak so that senators attending the meeting could "hear directly from him exactly what's at stake."
They will also hear from the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State and other senior national security officials.
The move came after the Biden administration issued an urgent warning on Dec. 4 about the need to approve military and economic aid to Ukraine, saying that without American aid, Ukraine's military campaign against Russia could grind to a halt.
President Joe Biden is seeking congressional approval for a total of $106 billion that would include military aid to Ukraine and Israel and other U.S. security spending.
The funding bill includes $61 billion for Ukraine, mostly to buy weapons from the United States; $14.3 billion to Israel, including $10.6 billion for arms purchases; Nearly $14 billion is also spent on U.S. border security, among other things.
The Associated Press pointed out that the funding bill has been blocked in the US Congress, Republican lawmakers are increasingly skeptical about the size of the aid funds, and even Republican lawmakers who support the bill have insisted on adjusting the US-Mexico border policy to stop the flow of immigrants as a condition for agreeing to aid Ukraine.
But talks between Republican and Democratic lawmakers on a border security plan broke down over the weekend, congressional staff said.
Senate Minority (Republican) Leader Mitch McConnell said on December 4 that the Republican Party is "still at the negotiating table." Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson reiterated in a statement that his party would insist on adjusting border policy as part of the Ukraine aid bill.
Congress has appropriated $111 billion in aid to Ukraine, including $67 billion in military procurement funds, $27 billion in economic and civilian aid, and $10 billion in humanitarian aid.
In her letter, Young said that as of mid-November, all funds except for about 3 percent of military aid funds had been exhausted, and "we have no money left to support Ukraine in this war." It's not an issue for next year."
The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives recently passed a separate aid bill for Israel as funding for Ukraine is running out.
At the same time, the president's Allies in Congress, increasingly alarmed by the death toll in the current round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are pressing the Biden administration to get Israel to commit to reducing civilian casualties and allow aid into Gaza before providing more military assistance.
Us Senator Bernie Sanders said on December 4 that it would be "irresponsible" for the US to send billions of dollars in military aid to Israel without such preconditions.
