Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks with Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, the new chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff, at Joint Base Myer Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va., on Sept. 29, 2023. (Jack Sanders/DOD)
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Air Force Gen. CQ Brown will travel to Europe next week to size up what weapons Ukrainian troops need now to fight Russian forces as Pentagon funds used to supply Ukraine military aid begin to run dry.
Austin and Brown, who was confirmed recently as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will travel to Belgium for a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — a coalition of about 50 allied countries that meet regularly to assess what the embattled country needs most to drive the Russians from its territory.
“I know the questions come up: ‘How long is [existing aid] going to last?’” Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said Thursday. “It is all relative to what Ukraine’s most urgent security assistance needs are.”
“We have enough funding to last for a bit longer,” he added. “Austin is singularly focused on making sure we’re working with Ukraine and our allies and partners to get what they need.”
The contact group meeting Wednesday will be the first since Congress passed a 45-day temporary government funding bill that did not include new military aid for Ukraine. The funding was passed last weekend to avoid a government shutdown, but aid was stripped from the deal so enough Republicans would vote for it.
President Joe Biden and most congressional lawmakers agree that it’s important to keep aid to Ukraine flowing, but a group of far-right Republicans in the House are opposed to sending more.
“If [Russian President Vladimir] Putin succeeds in Ukraine, he will not stop. He made this clear years ago when he said his mission in life … was to recreate the Russian Empire,” Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday on the Senate floor. “It is ironic in history how dictators can be so clear about what they want to do, but ignored by people who should stand up to them.”
Biden said Wednesday that he expects more aid to come when Congress finally authorizes a full budget for 2024 but added he’s worried the GOP-led chaos in the House could still present obstacles.
Pentagon Comptroller Michael McCord warned last week that Ukraine-related money is drying up. About $5.4 billion remains for weapons sent to Ukraine on an emergency basis and another $1.6 billion to replace weapons taken from Pentagon stocks for Ukraine. He said there’s no money left in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a fund that procures weapons from industry.
Another option that remains is reprogramming money, which allows the Pentagon to redirect existing funds for urgent matters. But Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday that it’s not a long-term solution.
The Pentagon has also diverted weapons seized by the U.S. military to Ukraine. The Navy in December intercepted a shipment of ammunition from Iran to Houthi rebels in Yemen. This week, the Pentagon gave the bullets to the Ukrainians. In the past year, the Navy has intercepted several similar shipments, including one that yielded 2,100 AK-47s from Iran in January. It’s not yet known whether the U.S. might try to send those weapons to Ukraine.
“Whether or not we will [do that again], it remains to be seen,” Ryder said.
Meetings of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group are often followed by new announcements of military aid packages. The last tranche of weapons two weeks ago included missiles, artillery and air-defense equipment valued at $325 million.
