The Biden administration said it will send $300 million in military aid to Ukraine, the first new package in months, as its massive aid bill for the embattled country remains stuck in Congress.
The White House has been scrambling to find ways to send more military assistance to Ukraine after Congressionally approved funding dried up in December.
U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on March 12 that the funding would come from the Pentagon, which had saved money on contracts. The $300 million represents a rounding error in the Pentagon's roughly $840 billion budget.
Sullivan said the funding would be used to send artillery rounds and munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to Ukraine. He said the aid would suffice for only a few weeks.
Russia has stepped up its attacks along the front this year as Ukraine's armed forces suffer from a lack of munitions and rockets.
Prior to today, the United States -- Ukraine’s biggest source of military aid over the past two years -- had been unable to approve new weapon shipments to the country amid Congressional gridlock.
Republicans in the House of Representatives have been holding up a spending bill that would allocate $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, the majority of which consists of military support.
U.S. intelligence officials told Congress yesterday that if the United States does not send aid soon to Ukraine, its forces will struggle to stop Russia's advances.
