Ukraine has not yet received any weapons under lend-lease: the government explained the reason
Washington still transfers military aid to Ukraine under other programs and does not use lend-lease to preserve the Ukrainian budget in the future.
The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleg Nikolenko tells us about this in a comment.
He explains that the lend-lease mechanism arises from the fact that the United States can transfer the defense products available to Ukraine for rent or on leasing terms.
“The advantage of this tool is the speed of decision-making by the US Administration using a simplified procedure without excessive bureaucracy and the need to vote on each package of aid to Ukraine in the US Congress. The disadvantage is that the volume of supplies of American weapons within the limits of Lend-Lease directly depends on the financial capabilities of Ukraine.” Nikolenko says.
In short, at this stage of the war, the United States decided to provide military aid to Ukraine at the expense of its own federal budget. As insufficient aid to Ukraine or its ineffectiveness “have fatal consequences for the entire free democratic world.”
As Nikolenko appoints, in accordance with the US law on additional designation in support of Ukraine, we receive security and defense assistance under three programs: the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), foreign military financing (Foreign Military Financing, FMF) and replenishment stockpiles of US weapons.
Under these programs, military assistance is provided free of charge. That is, the current programs for payments from lend-lease do not provide for compensation from Ukraine for the cost of the provided weapons, military equipment and ammunition.
“In addition to the bilateral measure of aid from the US, the American side was the initiator of the creation of the Contact Group for the Protection of Ukraine, in which 50 countries participate. Thanks to joint diplomatic efforts and the leading role of the United States, it was possible to mobilize the provision of $40 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine by NATO members and other partners.” Nikolenko reminds.
Of these 40 billion, more than 19.3 billion dollars came from the United States. Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, together with other state bodies, is working to get help from allies for better protection against air threats.
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all, US President Joe Biden signed the law on lendlease for Ukraine on May 9. The document provides an opportunity to significantly speed up the supply of weapons, transport, goods and other assistance for rent or free of charge from the USA to Ukraine. Thanks to LendLease, the White House does not have to wait significantly for special allocations of funds for this Congress.
The Lend-Lease program was last used during World War II. At that time, the USA supplied the Allies with ammunition, equipment and other necessary raw materials and food for the fight against Nazi Germany.