In a dramatic escalation of US efforts against Russia, President Joe Biden on Thursday asked Congress for US$33 billion in aid to Ukraine, as well as new tools. legal provisions that make it possible to tighten sanctions and empty Russian oligarchs’ assets.
The broad funding request includes more than US$20 billion (R$100.7 billion) for weapons, ammunition and other types of military assistance and US$8.5 billion (R$42.8 billion) in direct economic aid to the government in Kiev, as well as US$3 billion (R$15.1 billion) for humanitarian and food aid.
The $20 billion set aside by Biden for the military flank represents five times the 2021 Ukrainian defense budget, including spending on pensions and military salaries.
Biden is also looking to increase the oligarchs’ ability to seize more money, which would help pay for the war effort, deliver the money to Ukraine and further criminalize attempts to circumvent sanctions, according to the White House. The measures include allowing the Justice Department to use strict US extortion law to create cases against people who evade punishment.
The Democrat also seeks to give prosecutors more time to formulate such cases, extending the statute of limitations on money laundering cases to ten years instead of five. He still wants to make it a crime to withhold money from corrupt deals with Russia, according to a summary of the proposals.
The measures are part of Washington’s efforts to isolate and punish Moscow over the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, as well as to help Kiev recover from a war that has reduced cities to rubble and forced more than 5 million people to flee abroad.
The new application represents the total amount that US officials expect to need by September, when the current fiscal year ends. US military aid to Ukraine alone has exceeded $3 billion since Russia launched what it calls a “special military operation” to demilitarize the neighboring country. Kiev and Western allies reject the justification as a false pretext.
The US and its European partners froze $30 billion in assets held by wealthy individuals with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, including yachts, helicopters, real estate and artwork.
On Thursday, Moscow foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, commenting on attacks on the Russian city of Belgorodo, on Ukraine’s northeast border, said the presence of “Western consultants” in Kiev would not deter attacks. This week, the US secretaries of state and defense were in the Ukrainian capital. “We do not advise you to continue testing our patience.”
