A $300 million U.S. aid package for Ukraine that the Pentagon announced last week is not something that officials expect to happen again, the Pentagon's spokesman said on March 19 in an interview with RFE/RL at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) in Germany.
U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, speaking at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, said the main focus remained working with Congress to get a stalled $60 billion aid package approved.
Ryder said the $300 million in aid was something U.S. defense officials were "able to find" through cost savings from contracts already negotiated.
"Unfortunately, it's not one of those things that we can really count on to happen again," Ryder said. "It was kind of a onetime good deal."
The United States said it would use the money to pull weapons and equipment from Pentagon stocks. It will be the first tranche of weapons from the United States since December and will arrive as battlefield conditions have worsened for Ukrainian troops, who have reported shortages of ammunition.
Ryder stressed that the Defense Department was focused on receiving the much larger package of aid from Congress that has been held up over opposition from Republicans in the House of Representatives, who are demanding action on U.S. security matters, particularly along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"There is strong bipartisan support in the Congress for [the Ukrainian aid] package," Ryder said. "So we do remain optimistic that our Congress will come to a resolution and support that package."
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Ryder also expressed frustration over the delay, saying this continues to put Ukraine at increased risk, and every day that passes the risks get higher.
"We are completely aware of the dire situation, the important and urgent need for ammunition and other capabilities. And so, again, this is why we're going to continue to work very closely with our Congress."
In the meantime, the Pentagon will continue to work closely with Ukraine's other allies and partners, many of whom are contributing significant amounts of aid to Ukraine "across the board," he said.
Forums such as the UDCG enable Ukraine's partners to continue to identify its most urgent needs in the near and long term.
Asked about French President Emmanuel Macron's comments last week that he was not ruling out sending Western ground troops to Ukraine to avert a Russian victory, Ryder said President Joe Biden had been "very clear" that U.S. forces will not be sent into Ukraine.
Furthermore, the Ukrainians have also been clear that they don't want anyone to fight for them, he said.
Ryder concluded by saying that his message to Russian President Vladimir Putin would be that the United States doesn't seek war with Russia.
At the same time, Russia illegally invaded Ukraine, an independent, sovereign, and democratic country. Ukraine has a right to defense itself, and it's important for the international community to stand up against such aggression, he said.
It's also important "that we work together to prevent these types of actions from happening in other parts of the world and deterring Russia from further aggressive behavior," he said.