The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a defense budget bill for the year 2025 amounting to $895.2 billion. Notably, the document does not include a provision for extending lend-lease for Ukraine.
This was reported by Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova.
Biden is leaving: how much military aid has the U.S. provided to Ukraine since the start of the major warThe Joe Biden administration will provide Ukraine with an additional $7 billion in military aid by the end of its term. The infographic details military support throughout the major war.“It is worth noting that funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) for the fiscal year 2025 was included in last year's NDAA at $300 million. It should also be pointed out that this year’s NDAA bill, approved by the Senate, contained provisions for extending the Lend-Lease Act for the protection of democracy in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian embassy in the U.S. actively advocated for it; however, the bill passed by the House of Representatives did not include such a provision. The consolidated text of the bill does not include the relevant provision,” Markarova reported.
She highlighted that the embassy continues to work actively to maintain this mechanism, which is particularly provided for in the bipartisan and bicameral Stand with Ukraine Act.
The defense budget was supported by 281 congress members, while 140 legislators (16 Republicans and 124 Democrats) voted against it. It now needs to be approved by the Senate.
Recall that the lend-lease law for Ukraine was adopted in the U.S. back in 2022, but in practice, this mechanism was not utilized as Congress consistently allocated funds for assistance.
Earlier, President Joe Biden appealed to lawmakers to allocate an additional $24 billion in aid to Ukraine and to replenish stocks of previously transferred American weapons. House Speaker Mike Johnson stated that he does not intend to bring this issue to a vote.
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