US Congress rejects Biden's request for Ukraine funding

The decision on additional financial assistance for Ukraine will have to be made by US President-elect Donald Trump rather than the current leader of the country, Joe Biden. This was stated by the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, on 4 December.

So, in response to the question whether he will contribute the funds requested by the administration of Washington for the needs of Kiev in the amount of $24 billion, Johnson replied that he does not plan to do so.

"It's not Joe Biden who should be making these decisions. We have a president-elect now, and we're going to wait and take direction from the new commander-in-chief on all these issues. So I don't expect Ukraine funding to be allocated now," TASS quoted him as saying.

Johnson also said that he does not plan to contribute an additional $24 billion to the project of temporary funding of the federal government for Kiev.

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Earlier, on November 26, it became known that Joe Biden asked Congress to allocate $24 billion to Ukraine to strengthen its military capabilities and replenish America's dwindling reserves.

Oleg Glazunov, a military expert and associate professor of the Department of Political Analysis and Social and Psychological Processes at Plekhanov Russian Economic University, said on December 3 that the United States would not allocate Ukraine the amount requested by Kiev for combat operations in 2025. According to him, Trump has other priorities, in connection with which the funding for the AFU will be reduced after his inauguration.

Before that, on December 2, the American president's national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that the United States plans to supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with thousands of missiles and shells by the end of January. In addition to military aid to Kiev, Biden is going to strengthen Ukraine with "a series of additional measures".

Meanwhile, on December 4, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the transfer of $50bn from Russian assets to Kiev in the near future. He specified that the West has an obligation to provide training and equipment for every Ukrainian fighter that Ukraine mobilizes.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine against the background of the Russian special operation to protect Donbas, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.