A bipartisan group of US senators has pressed US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to release $600 million in delayed security assistance for Ukraine and Eastern European allies, deepening tensions between Congress and US President Donald Trump’s administration over support for Kyiv.
According to the Associated Press, the senators sent a letter Friday demanding the Pentagon move forward with the aid package, which includes $400 million for Ukraine and another $200 million for defense programs in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
“Ukraine has persistently and bravely repelled a four-year Russian onslaught, but its military needs and deserves continued American support,” Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley wrote in the joint letter.
The letter was also signed by Republican senators Kevin Cramer and Thom Tillis, along with Democratic senators Michael Bennet and Catherine Cortez Masto.
“Any further delays – particularly as the Department reportedly plans troubling U.S. troop withdrawals from the region – risks our ability to adequately deter Russia,” the senators wrote, according to AP.
The dispute escalated after Hegseth told lawmakers during congressional hearings more than three weeks ago that funding for Ukraine had already been “allocated” and that a spending plan would soon be delivered to Congress. Senators now say the Pentagon missed a May 15 deadline to provide the plan.
Other Topics of Interest
