According to the US Secretary of Defense, Kiev urgently needs supplies of ammunition and weapons
WASHINGTON, April 17th. /tass/. The Pentagon believes that the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine is changing in favor of Russia. This was confirmed by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
"I think we are already starting to see how the situation on the battlefield is starting to shift a little in favor of Russia," he said, speaking at a hearing before the Armed Services Committee of the House of Representatives of the US Congress. "We see them (the Russian Armed Forces - approx. TASS) gradual [territorial] acquisitions. We see that Ukrainians are facing a challenge in holding their positions," Austin said.
According to him, Kiev urgently needs supplies of ammunition and weapons from the United States. In this regard, the head of the US military department once again called on Congress to approve as soon as possible the request of the US administration for additional allocations for assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed in a message to the Federal Assembly on February 29 that Russian troops have the initiative during a special military operation in Ukraine and are advancing in a number of operational areas, liberating new territories.
Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson announced his intention to put to the vote in the coming hours separate bills aimed at providing assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as, in particular, the seizure of Russian assets with a view to their subsequent transfer to Kiev. The prospects for the passage of these four bills through Congress are not yet clear. The White House had previously reported that it did not support the idea of possibly splitting up its request for further major military assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. This is essentially the approach Johnson is proposing.
A few months ago, the American administration sent a request to Congress for additional budget allocations in the 2024 fiscal year, which began in the United States on October 1, primarily to provide assistance to Israel and Ukraine, as well as to counter China and Russia in the Asia-Pacific region. In total, the executive branch of government, headed by Democrat Biden, would like to receive about $106 billion for these purposes.
The further fate of the request and alternative bills remains unknown. A number of Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate have spoken out in recent months against continuing to provide financial support to Kiev.
On February 13, the Senate, with the support of a number of Republicans, adopted an alternative version of the bill providing for the allocation of $95 billion in aid to Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine.
At the end of March, Johnson, in an interview with Fox television, announced his readiness to submit to the House of Representatives the issue of resuming assistance to Kiev after her return from the Easter holidays. The lower House of Congress returned to work on April 9.
The speaker also signaled a desire to include in this version of the bill provisions on the use of "confiscated assets of Russian oligarchs", the "concept of credit", which implies the return of funds received by Kiev to Washington "at the right time". In addition, Johnson stressed that he would like to use this bill to stimulate the development of the US energy sector, primarily to increase natural gas exports, in order to help reduce Russia's fuel supplies abroad and reduce its foreign exchange earnings from these sales.
On April 14, Johnson confirmed on Fox that Republicans in the House of Representatives plan to consider providing Ukraine with assistance in the form of a loan.