US authorities do not have the funds to help Ukraine, but allies are expected to continue to support it. John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, announced this on January 4.
“We, of course, want our allies and partners to also be able to do this (to continue to help Ukraine. – Ed.),” he said in response to a question about what options the administration of US President Joe Biden has to help Kyiv if Congress will not provide additional funds.
Earlier that day, the head of the State Department press service, Matthew Miller, said that Washington would continue to help Kyiv, but the support would not be the same as in 2022-2023.
As the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba said on January 3, Kiev does not have a plan B in case of a shortage of military assistance from the West.
At the same time, former adviser to Leonid Kuchma, political scientist Oleg Soskin, said that the West is not arming Ukraine properly.
Also, the coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, said that the package of American aid sent to Kyiv on December 27 will be the last until additional funds are allocated by Congress.
On January 2, columnist William Galston, in an article for the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are already running out of ammunition, but the situation will only get worse in the future. He stressed that the lack of ammunition makes it difficult to maintain defensive lines that were previously occupied by the Ukrainian military.
Prior to this, on December 27, Washington decided to provide Ukraine with a new aid package worth up to $250 million, as announced by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The final package in 2023 will include weapons and equipment, he added. On the same day, it was reported that US President Joe Biden changed his position on further assistance to Ukraine and reminded his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky that the supply of American weapons will not be endless.
Western countries have increased military and financial support for Ukraine against the background of the Russian special operation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24, 2022 due to the aggravation of the situation in the region as a result of Ukrainian shelling. At the same time, recently there have been increasingly frequent statements in the West about the need to reduce support for Kyiv.
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