US Has More Ukraine Military Aid in Reserve, Biden Aide Says

The U.S. is holding $100 million in security assistance for Ukraine “in reserve” for threats such as a renewed Russian military buildup on the border, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.

“So it is there and the Russians know it’s there and the Ukrainians know it’s there, but the idea that we have withheld any security assistance from Ukraine is simply nonsense,” Sullivan said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Politico reported on Friday that National Security Council officials temporarily halted as much as $100 million in military aid to Ukraine after Russia said it would draw down troops near Ukraine before President Vladimir Putin and Biden met last week.

All of the $275 million in security assistance to Ukraine appropriated by Congress through September has been disbursed, and the extra $100 million “was a contingency package in the event that there was a further Russian incursion into Ukraine,” Sullivan said.

“When those troops pulled back and didn’t go into Ukraine, we have held that package in reserve in the event that it may become necessary in the future,” he said.