As of: February 1, 2024, 9:42 a.m
By: Fabian Hartmann
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The US President currently has little leeway when it comes to arms deliveries to Ukraine.
That's why he could now use a detour.
Washington – The US Congress has been blocking $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine since October.
But now the government under President Joe Biden may have found a way to equip the Ukrainian army with urgently needed weapons and ammunition to defend the Russian war of aggression.
The Biden administration plans to give away older surplus weapons to Greece, Forbes
magazine reports
.
The condition is that Greece in return passes on some of its surplus weapons to Ukraine.
The US government is based on a German model of the arms cycle, the so-called ring exchange.
Germany has been using this since July 2022 to indirectly send tanks and other heavy weapons to Ukraine.
The federal government is relying on the support of Eastern European allies who supply Soviet-made weapons to Ukraine and receive weapons from Germany in return.
The federal government is currently considering a ring exchange of Taurus cruise missiles with Great Britain, but this is also encountering resistance within its own ranks.
As the Greek newspaper Kathimerini
reported last week, among others
, the United States offered the Greek government three 87-foot Protector-class patrol boats, two Lockheed Martin C-130H air transport aircraft, 10 Allison T56 turboprop engines for Lockheed P-3 -Patrol aircraft as well as 60 M-2 Bradley fighting vehicles and a load of transport vehicles.
This is how Joe Biden could circumvent the blocked military aid to Ukraine
The transfer of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine could be made possible through a legal authority within the US Constitution known as Excess Defense Articles (EDA).
It allows the president to declare the US military's existing weapons systems "superfluous" and to pass them on to partner countries at a discount or even free of charge.
The condition is that the recipient transports it further.
Under the law, EDA transfers are capped at $500 million annually.
However, it does not dictate what value the U.S. government places on surplus weapons.
In a letter to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the ships, planes, engines and vehicles as “free concessions” to Greece.
In addition, the US government is promising further support to Greece as soon as military aid to Ukraine has been transferred.
“If these resources are of interest to Ukraine, we may explore options for additional foreign force funding of up to $200 million for Greece, pending an assessment of their status and value by the U.S. government,” Blinken said quoted
by
Forbes
.
Leftover resources from the Greek military could benefit Ukraine
The Greek military has a number of Soviet- and U.S.-designed weapons that could be of immediate value to the Ukrainian military.
These include S-300 and Hawk air defense batteries, Tor and Osa short-range air defense vehicles and ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns.
It also has ammunition for all of these systems.
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US President Joe Biden © IMAGO/Stringer
It is believed that some or even all of these weapons could be supplied to Ukraine.
“The political and military leadership has already given the necessary instructions for outdated systems and equipment no longer used by the Greek army to be relocated to Ukraine,” reports
Kathimerini
.
US military aid to Ukraine has been exhausted - further aid packages are being blocked by Republicans
In October, Biden asked the US Congress for military aid worth around $61 billion (almost €56 billion) to support the Ukrainian military in defense against the Russian war of aggression.
After this was rejected by Congress, Biden in December reapplied for about $110 billion in arms sales to Ukraine and Israel.
But these could not be implemented either because Biden's demand did not receive the necessary majority due to the unanimous rejection of the Republican side in the US Senate.
Since the beginning of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the United States has provided or promised more than $44 billion in aid to the Ukrainian military.
However, the funds approved by Congress have now been exhausted.
By rejecting new military aid to Ukraine and Israel, Republicans want to reinforce their demands for stricter immigration policies and control of the southern border with Mexico.
In this context, they also demand accountability for American taxpayers' money flowing abroad.
(Fabian Hartmann)