Currently, Ukraine receives defense aid free of charge under other programs that do not provide for reimbursement of the cost of the provided weapons.

The USA does not yet use Lend-Lease and provides military aid to Ukraine under other programs in order to save the Ukrainian budget in the future.

The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleg Nikolenko told about this, writes “Hromadske”. According to him, within the framework of lend-lease, the USA can transfer weapons to Ukraine for rent or on leasing terms.

“The advantage of this tool is the speed of decision-making by the US Administration regarding a simplified procedure without excessive bureaucracy and the need to vote for each package of aid to Ukraine in the US Congress. The downside is that the volume of supplies of American weapons under Lend-Lease directly depends on the financial capabilities of Ukraine,” Nikolenko said. . .

According to him, the United States is currently providing military aid to Ukraine at the expense of its own federal budget. Because insufficient aid to Ukraine or its ineffectiveness “will have fatal consequences for the entire free democratic world.”

As Nikolenko notes, Ukraine now receives free assistance in the field of security and defense under three programs provided for by the US law on additional appropriations: Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and replenishment of US weapons stocks (Replenishment of US weapons stocks).

These programs, unlike lend-lease, do not provide for reimbursement by Ukraine of the cost of the provided weapons.

“In addition to the bilateral dimension of assistance from the United States, the American side was the initiator of the creation of a contact group on the defense of Ukraine, in the work of which 50 countries currently participate. Thanks to joint diplomatic efforts and the leading role of the United States, it was possible to mobilize the provision of weapons to Ukraine by NATO members and other partners at a cost $40 billion”– Nikolenko notes.

He specified that more than $19.3 billion of this amount came from the United States. For now, the Ukrainian authorities are working on getting help from partners to better protect against threats from the air.

Lend-Lease from the USA – what is known

As reported, on April 7, 2022, the United States Senate passed the Lend-Lease Law for Ukraine, and on April 28, the US House of Representatives did so. US President Joe Biden signed the Lend-Lease Law for Ukraine in May. It provides for Ukraine to receive military equipment and weapons on lease, and to pay for the destroyed units already after victory. At that time, already told what kind of support Ukraine can count on from this lend-lease.

The last time Washington used the Lend-Lease program was during World War II, providing aid to the Allied Powers (especially the Soviet Union) to fight the Nazi regime.

However, the supply of weapons to our country is currently carried out under other programs on a free basis. In particular, on December 9, the United States announced a new aid package worth $275 million. It is aimed at strengthening the capabilities of Ukrainian air defense.

In total, since the start of the full-scale invasion on February 24 and as of September, the United States has provided over $25 billion in aid to Ukraine. Joe Biden also noted that the United States is working closely with allies and partners to make Russia pay for the war against Ukraine.