The funds will be included in a government funding bill
September 27, 2022
Congressional negotiators agreed to include nearly $12 billion in new spending on the war in Ukraine in a stopgap spending bill that will likely be voted on this week, Reuters reported on Monday.
Sources told Reuters that the $12 billion will include $4.5 billion in funding for arms being sent to Ukraine and $2.7 billion for other military and intelligence support for Ukraine. The funding also includes $4.5 billion in direct budgetary aid for the Ukrainian government.
A source told The Associated Press that the stopgap bill is meant to fund the federal government through mid-December and could be brought to the Senate for a vote as soon as Tuesday evening.
The funds for Ukraine largely fall in line with a request made by President Biden. The White House asked Congress to authorize $11.7 billion in spending for Ukraine and for $2 billion for energy spending to offset the cost of the sanctions campaign against Moscow.
If the measure is passed, it will bring the total US expenditures for the war in Ukraine to about $65.6 billion. Including the $2 billion in energy spending to offset sanctions brings the total to $67.6 billion. To put the figure in perspective, Russia’s entire annual military budget for 2021 was $65.9 billion.
The Ukraine aid is not meant to last very long. When requesting the funds, the White House said it was needed for the first three months of the 2023 fiscal year, which starts on October 1 for the federal government. Ukraine is preparing to launch more counteroffensive next year and has asked the US to provide more advanced weaponry.
US support for this proxy war on Russia’s border is entering extremely dangerous territory as Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Moscow could defend its “territorial integrity” with nuclear weapons. Russian territory is set to expand into Ukraine as referendums are being held in Russian-controlled areas.
USAnnounces $457.5 Million in ‘Civilian Security Aid’ for Ukraine
The funds will go to Ukrainian law enforcement agencies
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday that the US committed an additional $457.5 million in “civilian security assistance” that will go toward the country’s law enforcement agencies.
Blinken said that the new aid brings the total funds for Ukrainian law enforcement committed by the US to $645 million since last December. He said that funding has gone to the National Police of Ukraine and Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service.
The aid includes personal protective equipment, medical supplies, and armored vehicles. Blinken said the new funding would also go toward investigating alleged Russian war crimes in areas of Ukraine.
Aid for Ukraine is still being pulled from the $40 billion bill President Biden signed back in May. But Congress has reportedly agreed to include $12 billion in new Ukraine aid in a government funding bill that will be voted on this week.
The plans for new aid come as Ukraine is asking the US for more advanced and longer-range weapons. Blinken said Sunday that conversations on what weapons to provide Ukraine next are “ongoing.” US support for Ukraine shows no sign of slowing down despite the risk of provoking Moscow and President Vladimir Putin’s recent warning regarding nuclear weapons.
RussiaSays It’s Had ‘Sporadic’ Contacts With the US on Nuclear Weapons
The Kremlin wouldn't comment on warnings the US said it delivered
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that the US and Russia have had “sporadic” contact over the issue of nuclear arms as tensions are soaring between the world’s largest nuclear-armed powers.
“There are channels for dialogue at the proper level, but they are of a very sporadic nature. At least they allow for the exchange of some emergency messages about each other’s positions,” Peskov said.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization last week, he warned that Russia could use nuclear weapons to protect its “territorial integrity.” The warning was significant since Russian territory is set to expand into Ukraine once referendums on joining Russia are completed in Russian-controlled areas.
On Sunday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US warned Russia it would face “catastrophic consequences” if it used a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.
Sullivan wouldn’t explain what that means but said the US “spelled out in detail” to Russia how it would respond. When asked if Russia had received such a message from the US, Peskov declined to comment.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, there have been virtually no public high-level meetings between US and Russian officials. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in July, but the conversation was focused on a potential prisoner swap.
AtUN General Assembly, Syria Calls for US to End Its Military Occupation
The US occupies about one-third of eastern Syria and maintains sanctions on the country to prevent its reconstruction
On Monday, Syria’s foreign minister addressed the UN General Assembly in New York and called on the US to end its military occupation of eastern Syria.
The US currently has about 900 troops stationed in eastern Syria and backs Kurdish forces in the region. This presence allows the US to control about one-third of Syria’s territory, an area where most of the country’s oil and wheat resources are located.
Officially, the US maintains that its presence in the country is about fighting ISIS, but the Syrian government rejects that notion. “Fighting terrorism does not happen through an illegitimate international coalition that violates Syria’s sovereignty and destroys towns and villages,” Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said at UN headquarters.
On top of the occupation, the US also maintains crippling economic sanctions on Syria. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has previously said that these sanctions are meant to prevent Syria’s reconstruction until there is a political settlement in Syria, meaning regime change in Damascus.
Mekdad discussed the sanctions on Syria, saying the country has been “economically besieged” by Western powers. “The war against Syria, ultimately, was an attempt by the West to maintain control over the world,” he said.
The situation in eastern Syria highlights the hypocrisy of the US, as President Biden’s address to the General Assembly focused on accusing Russia of violating the UN Charter by taking Ukraine’s territory.
“Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations Charter — no more important than the clear prohibition against countries taking the territory of their neighbor by force,” Biden said in his speech last week.
Newconvoy of looted oil smuggled out of Syria by US army
Over the past year Washington has plundered hundreds of fuel tankers out of Syria to their bases in Iraq
US occupation forces on 25 September smuggled 79 tankers loaded with Syrian oil from the fields of Jazira region to Iraq, according to SANA.
Washington’s forces, which have taken control of essential oil and gas fields in Hasakah and Deir Ezzor governorates with the help of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), regularly smuggle fuel and grain out of Syria.
The state-run outlet said the looted oil was moved through the illegal Al-Mahmoudiya border crossing into Iraq, where US forces are also stationed.
Damascus considers the oil theft campaign part of the larger violations by the US of international law, as the plundering of the nation’s natural resources worsens an already dire hunger crisis.
Last week, the US military smuggled a convoy of 60 oil tankers filled with crude oil from Syria’s occupied regions to military bases in Iraq.
In the meantime, the economy in the war-torn country is in a state of disaster, as the bloody conflict has destroyed decades of progress, leaving what once was the Arab world’s most industrialized nation with severe shortages of food and energy.
In collaboration with the SDF, the US army is taking advantage of the devastation in the country to steal its resources while at the same time imposing strict sanctions that prevent Damascus from securing much-needed resources from abroad.
According to the Syrian ministry of oil and mineral resources, the US looted an average of 66,000 barrels of oil every day in the first half of 2022, or over 83 percent of the country’s daily output.
In contrast, domestic oil refineries receive nearly 14,200 barrels a day.
In a statement, the Syrian foreign ministry revealed that the unlawful trafficking of Syrian oil by the US caused direct and indirect losses of about 107.1 billion US dollars to Syria’s oil and gas sectors.
The US maintains around 900 troops in Syria, primarily split between the Al-Tanf base and the country’s eastern oil fields.
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