The Biden administration is considering whether to provide Ukraine with badly needed arms and ammunition from Pentagon stockpiles even though the government has run out of money to replace those munitions, according to two U.S. officials and a senior lawmaker.
Such a move would be a short-term measure to help tide over Ukraine’s armed forces until Congress breaks a monthslong impasse and approves a larger military aid package to the country, the officials said.
But in considering whether to tap into the Pentagon stockpiles again, the administration is weighing both the political risks and questions about American military readiness.
“It’s something that I know is on the table,” Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who leads the Armed Services Committee, said in an interview.
Mr. Reed, who recently returned from a trip to Ukraine, said he would support such a stopgap measure in “incremental uses to buy time.”
Persons:
Biden, Jack Reed, Reed, ”
Organizations:
Rhode Island, Armed Services Committee
Locations:
Ukraine