President Joe Biden is planning to hold phone calls with allies possibly as early as Tuesday, with an aim of reassuring them his administration will remain committed to supporting Ukraine, Bloomberg reports.
The White House has further said it will unveil another defense package for Ukraine "Soon" - which would be part of previously approved funds - in order to "Signal our continued support." This comes immediately on the heels of Biden being forced by Congressional Republican holdouts to sign a stopgap funding bill that did not include aid for Ukraine.
Already as of last Friday, the Pentagon had informed Congress that it has "Exhausted nearly all available security assistance funding for Ukraine" - including air defense weaponry and ammunition, leaving Ukraine more vulnerable as the Russian onslaught continues.
Any stoppage in funding would have more severe impact on Ukraine's longer term defense, US officials say per the WSJ:. But another pot of money the U.S. had been using for a longer-term program to refurbish Ukraine's military and make it more compatible with North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces, the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, is empty, administration officials said.
An account used to replenish the Defense Department's own arsenal after the provision of U.S. arms to Ukraine is now down to about $1.6 billion-insufficient to keep the Pentagon whole, officials said.
Despite dire warnings from the Biden administration, the threat to security assistance for Ukraine is more likely to emerge in the long term, and U.S. officials say the political uncertainty in Washington sends a terrible signal to the international community that President Biden has rallied in support of Kyiv's fight against Russia.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said of what's left of approved funding "Is enough for us to meet Ukraine's urgent battlefield needs for a bit longer," while qualifying, "But it is not a long-term solution."
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