What’s in Biden’s $106 billion funding request for Israel, Ukraine

Biden’s request includes a full year of funding for Ukraine, or $61.4 billion, after the administration has struggled to pass aid to the country because of opposition from House Republicans.

At least $45 billion of that would go to military needs. The United States has been sending existing stockpiles of munitions and weapons to Ukraine, and the congressional funds would allow the Biden administration to replenish those stockpiles. The United States has thus far directed more than $75 billion to Kyiv, most of which has gone for security assistance, loans for military gear, and Defense Department stocks of weapons and equipment.

Ukraine’s forces have struggled to achieve a major breakthrough in their counteroffensive against Russian troops in the east. But with Ukraine burning through arms and munitions at a fast clip, experts say failure to provide additional aid could give Moscow the upper hand. If the United States withdraws support from Ukraine, “within a couple weeks, or a couple months, the Ukrainians would collapse, if the Russians could take advantage of it,” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

The request also includes $16 billion for economic and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. Although international aid covered the country’s funding gap this year, Ukraine would have to make enormous cuts to pensions, hospitals and other government programs if Western assistance fails to materialize. “This is close to being an existential question” for the country, said Simon Johnson, an economist at MIT closely tracking Kyiv’s domestic finances.