Senate panel advances funding bill with $1 billion for Ukraine
The funding was included in the fiscal year 2026 Defense appropriations legislation and was pushed by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.). The bill advanced in the committee by a vote of 26 to three.
It includes $800 million in security assistance for Ukraine and $225 million in security assistance for Baltic countries. Coons earlier told reporters that the funding for the Baltics — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — is likely to go towards those countries' support for Ukraine, saying the total for Kyiv can be viewed as $1 billion.
'The secretary of the Army rightly calls Ukraine the Silicon Valley of warfare. The navy considers the maritime fight between Russia and Ukraine as the Black Sea battle lab, and recognizes the need for rapid innovation,' McConnell said at the committee's meeting on Thursday.
'But abandoning the foremost experts in drone warfare would be strategic self-harm, shutting off engagement with Ukraine would undermine our military's efforts to prepare for the modern battlefield. Like our friends on the Armed Services Committee we are restoring funding for the USAI and other security assistance programs that make America safer.'
The funds for Ukraine proved non-controversial in Thursday's committee meeting, where partisan debates focused on things like Trump's acceptance of a luxury plane from Qatar and requested funds to retrofit it as Air Force One.
There's a bipartisan majority supporting Ukraine in the Congress, even if Trump and the MAGA movement argue against the U.S. sending military assistance to other nations.
'I think there's broad enthusiasm for bringing this war to a just conclusion, but also broad awareness that that means, not peace at any price, by strengthening Ukraine so that it is able to defend itself against what will almost certainly be either continued or renewed attacks by Russia,' Coons told reporters in a briefing on Wednesday.
The Senate bill will put the $800 million into the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which funds sending direct military assistance to Ukraine, provides other support systems and training programs.
The fund, established in 2016, typically receives $300 million per year from Congress. Coons said it was important to increase the funding in the face of Trump's efforts to completely end U.S. funding for military support to Ukraine.
But the $1 billion appears to be a drop in the bucket to the more than $60 billion Congress approved in an April 2024 in a supplemental military assistance package, and as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has issued an urgent appeal for air defense missiles and long-range munitions that the U.S. is the foremost supplier.
'Last night, Russia launched another massive attack on Kyiv: hundreds of Shahed drones and missiles. Air defense shot down many, but not all,' Zelensky said in a speech Thursday, marking 50 years of the Helsinki Final Act, which established the OSCE, a forum between western Europe and former Soviet Union countries.
'President Trump is truly interested in ending the war. We must do everything we can to make sure the U.S. and Europe act together – for security.'
Trump has spoken out against the U.S. sending weapons to Ukraine at the expense of the American taxpayer and did not request funding for Ukraine in his 2026 budget. A House version of the Defense appropriations bill had no money for Ukraine.
But Trump has not completely halted U.S. weapons deliveries sent with funds approved during the Biden administration. He's also provided a quick green light for Ukrainian purchases of military equipment from U.S. companies.
He has also increasingly shown frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the obstacle to a ceasefire and set a deadline of Aug. 8 for Moscow to halt the fighting or face financial penalties. Earlier this month, Trump announced a deal where NATO would purchase U.S. weapons to send to Ukraine, a workaround from direct American support for Kyiv.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the funding.
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