Bipartisan Pair of Senators Seeks $54.6 Billion in New Aid for Ukraine
Robert Jimison covers foreign policy and defense issues in Congress. He reported from the Capitol.
A bipartisan pair of senators on Thursday introduced legislation to provide $54.6 billion in aid to Ukraine over the next two years as Russia intensifies its attacks and U.S.-brokered peace negotiations have so far failed.
The measure by Senators Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, and Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, includes billions of dollars for direct weapons assistance, as well as money to replenish American stockpiles. It faces long odds in Congress given previous Republican opposition to sending more aid to Ukraine, and in light of President Trump’s aggressive campaign to slash spending, particularly foreign assistance.
But its release comes as Mr. Trump has significantly shifted his stance on helping Kyiv, including approving having European allies provide lethal aid to Ukraine and replenish their stocks with American weapons. Some Republicans have followed suit, signaling support for that effort and other ways of bolstering Ukraine’s defenses against Russian aggression.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump continued to take a harder line on Russia, telling reporters that he planned to impose sanctions on the country, despite being unsure of the effect they would have. Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, would travel to Russia after visiting Gaza on Friday, the president added.
“Russia? I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing,” Mr. Trump said.
The Senate legislation’s backers appear to have written it with an eye toward controlling the cost to American taxpayers. Under the plan, as much as a third of the assistance would be financed by revenues from seized Russian assets and through weapons sales to European allies.
The bill would also codify the minerals deal recently struck between the United States and Ukraine, for which there has been outspoken bipartisan backing, allowing revenue generated by the country’s natural resources to be used to reimburse the United States for arming Kyiv.
“There is continued bipartisan resolve to sustain Ukraine’s valiant fight for freedom by helping Ukraine obtain the air defense needed to protect its civilian population centers, including schools and hospitals, from Russia’s relentless drone and missile attacks,” Ms. Shaheen said in a statement.
Still, there have been few direct calls from Republicans for the type of military support proposed in the new package. And it is not clear how much of the measure’s cost would ultimately be covered by Russian assets or weapons sales.
Much of the funding is earmarked for procuring new weapons to replace older systems sent to Ukraine. The bill would also vastly increase the president’s ability to unilaterally approve weapons transfers to Ukraine without consulting Congress, increasing so-called drawdown authority from $100 million to $6 billion next year and in 2027.
Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Congress has approved five aid bills for Ukraine totaling roughly $174 billion, including the most recent one in April 2024. But the spigot has closed since Mr. Trump took office. Billions of dollars in unspent aid from the Biden era also remain on the books.
U.S. emergency aid to Ukraine since 2022, in billions
Source: Congressional Research Service
By Ani Matevosian
Source: Congressional Research Service
By Ani Matevosian
Ms. Shaheen and Ms. Murkowski, longtime supporters of Ukraine’s response to Russia’s invasion, hope the new round of aid will reaffirm American commitment and win over potential detractors by highlighting what the United States may gain in such a deal.
“This legislation ensures Ukraine can continue to resist Russia’s illegal and brutal war,” Ms. Murkowski said in a statement. “We are also incorporating the use of seized Russian assets to hold aggressors accountable, while strengthening America’s military preparedness by applying valuable battlefield insights from Ukraine’s fight.”
Aside from Ms. Murkowski, only a few Republicans have signaled openness to supporting sending more money. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, long a Ukraine advocate, remains one of the most outspoken voices in favor of continued aid, and has not hesitated to push back against the White House.
“Much to the dismay of restrainers and isolationists who thought they’d get to freelance American foreign policy, the president of the United States increasingly sees Putin’s signals for what they are,” Mr. McConnell said on Wednesday at an event on Capitol Hill. “He’s been right to entertain proposals for new, secondary sanctions. Most importantly, he’s been right to green-light further lethal assistance to Ukraine.”
But it is unlikely that Republican congressional leaders would back the effort, given that the majority of their members have supported Mr. Trump’s push to scale back U.S. global involvement, including the shuttering of U.S. Agency for International Development operations and the slashing of foreign aid programs.
Vice President JD Vance, who led opposition to the last Ukraine aid package during his time in the Senate, once vowed that there was “no way” Ukraine would get another “$60 billion supplemental out of the United States Congress.”
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