President Biden said Thursday that he would ask Congress to authorize more security assistance for Ukraine next week, adding that the $13.6 billion approved last month has nearly been exhausted.
Biden cited the plans during a speech Thursday morning during which he announced a new $800 million security assistance package to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.
“With this latest disbursement, I’ve almost exhausted the drawdown authority that I have that Congress authorized for Ukraine in a bipartisan spending bill last month,” Biden said.
“In order to sustain Ukraine for the duration of this fight, next week I’m going to have to be sending to Congress a supplemental budget request to keep weapons and ammunition flowing without interruption to the brave Ukrainian fighters, continue to deliver economic assistance to the Ukrainian people,” he said.
The president said he hoped Congress would act quickly to approve additional funds for Ukraine, noting that there has been bipartisan support for helping Ukraine fight off the Russian assault that began nearly two months ago.
In response to a reporter’s question about the size of the supplemental request, Biden said he had asked the Pentagon to come up with a figure.
“That’s being decided now. I’m asking the Defense Department to put together what they think we need,” he said following the remarks.
Congress passed a funding bill in early March that included $13.6 billion in Ukraine-related assistance to support the Ukrainian military and economy and address the humanitarian crisis prompted by the war.
The House and Senate return to Washington next week following a two-week break.
There is likely to be bipartisan support for passing another bill authorizing more aid to Ukraine. The omnibus funding bill including billions in Ukraine assistance passed with broad bipartisan support earlier this year.
The Biden administration has announced several packages of military and economic assistance for Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24. The announcement of the latest tranche of $800 million in security assistance comes just a week after Biden announced a package of equal size.
Biden said that the new assistance, which will include heavy artillery, ammunition, howitzers, and drones, was needed to help Ukraine fight the new Russian advance in Ukraine’s east.
Updated at 11:11 a.m.