The White House has admitted that US President Joe Biden’s administration has spent more than $100 billion on the war in Ukraine, despite Russia’s repeated warnings that such steps would merely prolong the conflict in the former Soviet republic.
The statement was made in a letter from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to more than 30 Republican senators demanding a “full crosscutting” report on US military support to Ukraine in January.
The letter, written by OMB Director Shalanda Young and acquired by Fox News, provides a thorough description of the United States’ more than $100 billion in military support to Ukraine since the commencement of what it calls “Russia’s brutal invasion” on February 24, 2022.
“With bipartisan Congressional support, the United States has provided security, economic, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine as it continues to fight to defend its sovereignty following Russia’s brutal invasion,” Young wrote.
“This support has been critical to Ukraine’s success on the battlefield, as well as the ability of its people to endure under harsh conditions.”
According to Young, Biden “has made clear” that the US “will not waver in our commitment to the Ukrainian people as they fight for their freedom and independence.”
In August, Young also supplied a “table that details supplemental funding provided in support of Ukraine in addition to current obligation levels, which OMB shared with Congress” to Republican Senators.
The table showed that the Office of Management and Budget has obligated or executed a total of $101,198,000,000, as well as intentions to spend an additional $9.8 billion.
Aside from the more than $100 billion already spent in Ukraine, the White House asked Congress last month for an extra $24 billion, including $13 billion for defense and $11 billion for economic and humanitarian assistance.
Oleksii Reznikov, the Ukrainian defense minister who was ousted earlier this month by President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that Western allies have already provided Kiev with military supplies worth approximately $100 billion since the start of Russia’s incursion in the war-torn country.
“We have received over US$100 billion in various weapons and equipment, rounds of ammunition, shells, and shots. From the United States alone, we received more than US$50 billion, approaching US$60 billion,” Reznikov said in an interview with the Ukrinform news agency.
The defense minister underlined that if the amount is multiplied by Ukraine’s national currency exchange rate, it will be equivalent to trillions of hryvnias.
The development comes as Western officials have criticized Kiev over the past weeks for failing to deliver on its promises of victory on the battlefield despite receiving ten-of-billions of dollars worth of weapons and munitions and just asking for more.
Kiev launched its hugely publicized counteroffensive against Russian troops in June but failed to pass the Russian defense lines and switched instead to causing disruption deep inside Russia by launching drone and missile attacks on the capital city Moscow and elsewhere.
Some Western officials have come to see the support for Ukraine as their loss and a distraction from their own domestic problems.
Russia has on numerous occasions warned that the continued supply of Western weapons and munitions to the Ukrainian military would only prolong the war, add to losses, and exacerbate the sufferings of the Ukrainian nation.
