WASHINGTON. Sept 26 (Interfax) - U.S. President Joe Biden said he had ordered that funds assigned for military assistance to Ukraine be allocated in full before the end of his presidency, the White House said in a statement on Thursday.
"I have directed the Department of Defense to allocate all of its remaining security assistance funding that has been appropriated for Ukraine by the end of my term in office," the statement said.
In particular, this includes $5.5 billion disbursed for the PDA program, which provides Ukraine with weapons from U.S. arsenals. The Pentagon replaces them with more advanced systems for its needs.
In addition, it is planned to spend $2.4 billion on another program, which places orders for the production of new weapons for Ukraine. Biden believes the allocations "will provide Ukraine with additional air defense, unmanned aerial systems, and air-to-ground munitions, as well as strengthen Ukraine's defense industrial base and support its maintenance and sustainment requirements." Unlike PDA, the program does not ensure the swift delivery of weapons to Kiev, as they need to be ordered and made first.
Military assistance to Ukraine is funded by the allocations approved by the U.S. Congress earlier this year after long debates.