US Should Prioritize Ukraine Aid, Stabilize Military Supply Chains, Senators Say
Congress should prioritize provisions in President Joe Biden’s recently proposed Ukraine-related aid package that will increase exports of military equipment to Ukraine and surrounding partners, said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., also stressed the importance of military aid but said the U.S. should take a broader look at global military supply chains to make sure it isn’t depleting its own supplies and those of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
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“The No. 1 priority has to be getting materials into Ukraine that the Ukrainian forces can immediately put to use,” Tillis said during a May 2 event hosted by the Atlantic Council.
The State Department has been quickly approving exports of military equipment to Ukraine to help the country fend off Russia’s invasion, sometimes turning around license applications in as little as 24 hours (see 2204290032). The administration also has almost exhausted its drawdown authority for military supplies and hopes its proposed $33 billion Ukraine-related aid package, released by the White House last week, helps replenish that funding (see 2204280016).
Both senators applauded Biden’s proposed package, with Murphy calling it “big and bold.” He said “$33 billion is a lot of money” and that he hopes “Congress will step up in the next several days.”
While the U.S. needs to maintain a steady stream of military aid to Ukraine, Tillis agreed with Murphy that the U.S. should make sure NATO countries are not depleting their military equipment. “We've got to make sure that we have a steady supply line of weapon systems and other technology to backfill some of the inventories that have been reduced,” he said.
Murphy said the U.S. is moving military goods into Ukraine “very quickly” and may need to take steps to increase domestic production. “We've got to take a hard look at military supply chains,” he said. “We're depleting our own stores, and we are asking many other countries that lie on Russia's periphery to deplete their equipment stores as well.”
Tillis also said Congress should continue to push for more sanctions against Russia beyond the sweeping financial and export restrictions already announced. The U.S. has sanctioned Russian entities, oligarchs and government officials, and expanded export controls to cover a range of U.S.-origin and foreign-produced goods that contain certain levels of U.S. content (see 2203310019).
“We've implemented sanctions, and many of our partners and allies have come along and responded in kind,” Tillis said. “But I think we have to continue to make this economically devastating to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”
Both senators said the U.S. needs to continue to work to cut off Russia from exporting energy. Murphy, who traveled to Serbia last month, pointed to Serbia’s $100 million gas link project to Bulgaria.
“That's a lot of money, but it’s frankly a drop in the bucket compared to a $33 billion energy package that would give a country like Serbia the opportunity to potentially be gas-independent of Russia,” Murphy said. “The United States needs to think about looking at creative ways to help finance those kinds of projects.”