No Final Decision On Trump’s Military Budget for Ukraine, Though Hegseth Signals Reduction on $300m Program
WASHINGTON DC – Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth hinted on Tuesday that the United States was considering a budget reduction in its $300 million worth Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative program, saying that President Donald Trump’s administration “takes a very different view of that [Russia-Ukraine] conflict,” according to Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent.
“We believe a negotiated, peaceful settlement is in the best interest of both parties and our nation’s interests, especially with all the competing interests around the globe,” Hegseth told lawmakers during a congressional hearing on June 10. His comments came amid growing uncertainty over the future of US support for Kyiv.
Hegseth was testifying before the House Appropriations Committee in the first of several hearings during this week. He was grilled by the Democrats over what they described as “US abandonment of allies, such as Ukraine.”
“This administration has done seemingly everything possible to alienate America on the world stage and turn our back on our allies, particularly Ukraine,” Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), a high-ranking Democrat in the Committee, told Hegseth.
The lawmaker went on to highlight the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), saying that despite broad support in Congress for helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s brutal invasion, “they empower Vladimir Putin by failing to include $300 million for the USAI”.
The Democrats also took issue with the fact that the White House has not yet provided its full military budget proposal for the upcoming year, which Trump has said would total $1 trillion, a significant increase over the current spending level of more than $800 billion.
According to Hegseth, the pending budget “provides a historic level of funding for military readiness, putting [US] warfighters and their needs first.”
The Pentagon chief did not disclose any details as to the extent of the funding reduction for Ukraine, however, security assistance analysts such as Colby Badhwar from Tochnyi, a research group, believes that the impact of losing $300 million might be – as he put it – “pretty minimal for Ukraine in the grand scheme of things”
“The majority of USAI funding has come from Supplementals though… The Administration has obviously not submitted any new supplemental budget request either,” he told Kyiv Post.
He went on to elaborate: “They haven’t made any final decision on that. Congress can still add that $300 million in USAI back in, and the Administration could still submit a supplemental request.”
For Badhwar, the bigger issues are that this summer, deliveries of what was previously promised by Joe Biden via Presidential Drawdown Authority will be completed. “So Ukraine won’t be receiving regular deliveries of ammunition and equipment.”
“Deliveries of previous USAI commitments are scheduled to continue far into the future, but we now have an instance of some of that equipment being redirected to the US’ own stocks,” the expert said.
On the flip side, the expert added that the current administration has still been receptive to some arms sales to Ukraine, although not others, and third party transfer permits are still being authorized, such as PATRIOT interceptors and GMLRS from Germany and M1 Abrams MBTs from Australia.He added: “[Ukrainian President] Zelensky has spoken about his desire to purchase air defenses from the US, but it is unclear whether he is requesting a sale from US military stock, or an order for new production, either via the Foreign Military Sales program, or a Direct Commercial Sale with the defense industry. The DoD is highly unlikely to sell any of their own air defenses, but orders from industry would be more likely to be approved.”
Amid the recent escalating aerial assaults from Russia, President Zelensky has urged the US to support Ukraine with critical air defense systems. Washington is yet to formally respond to Kyiv’s request, however, senior officials told Kyiv Post on Tuesday that the US was ‘counting on’ Europe to hunt for more aid defenses for Ukraine.
The US to date has provided Ukraine more than $66 billion since February 2022. Trump briefly halted the approval of new military aid packages to Kyiv when he began his second term in January.
During yesterday’s hearing, lawmakers also pressed Hegseth on Ukraine’s surprise drone attack early this month that destroyed a large number of Russian bomber aircraft.
Pentagon chief admitted that the strikes caught Washington off guard and represented significant advances in drone warfare. He went on to highlight that his department is learning from Ukraine and is focused on how to better defend its own military airfields.
Ukraine’s attack has the Pentagon rethinking drone defenses, “so we are not vulnerable to a threat and an attack like that,” as Hegseth put it.
General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was also testifying alongside Hegseth, said that as the Russian war in Ukraine continues, Moscow also continues its attempt to accomplish its geopolitical objectives using military force.
“These objectives include expanding its territorial control, broadening its influence regionally and globally, and weakening US leadership and influence,” he told lawmakers, reminding that Russia has strengthened its relationships with the CCP, North Korea, and Iran.
“Russia has used the war as an opportunity to refashion its military and build a military that is now larger than its pre-war forces. Russia has modernized its Pacific fleet, particularly submarines, becoming an increasing threat to U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific,” General Caine concluded.
Source: Alex Raufoglu