US Expects to Delay $30 Million in Ukraine Military Aid

Funds need to be freed up by Monday deadline

With Monday the deadline for freeing up US military aid to Ukraine, the administration is expecting to free up the majority of the $250 million, but that about $30 million may remain held up even after the deadline, bumping it out of this year’s budget.

This continued hold-up on aid comes as Ukraine becomes a major political issue in the US, with allegations that President Trump was pushing Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to dig up dirt on Joe Biden and his son.

There have been allegations that this was tied to the aid freeze, though the Trump Administration insists it was unrelated, and indeed the aid was frozen well before the Biden thing came up. Initially Trump presented the aid freeze as about corruption, but has since revised his story and claims he’s mad because Germany and France aren’t paying more.

It’s not clear what the hold-up is on the remainder of the Ukrainian aid, though Trump did say his anger at Europe meant he was liable to hold some up next year. The scandal will almost certainly remain a speculation that anything held up was a sign Zelensky didn’t deliver everything Trump wanted.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.