Andrey Melnyk, Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister, has called on Western countries to increase aid to his country by at least 10 times to end the war in 2023.
He stated that military assistance from Ukraine's allies has been helpful, but it is not enough, and more weapons and ammunition are required. Melnyk urged Western countries to cross "artificial red lines" and allocate 1% of their GDP for supplying weapons to Ukraine. He compared the current hostilities to World War II, where the US government provided $50bn in lend-lease aid, which at current prices would amount to around $700-800bn.
The US has approved the sale of weapons to Ukraine under the lend-lease program, but the delivery of weapons to Kyiv under the program has not yet begun. The reason for this delay, according to Politico, is that Washington wants to indiscriminately supply weapons to Kyiv if possible. Another reason is that both the Democratic and Republican parties have agreed to provide Ukraine with weapons, and if the lend-lease program is used, it could circumvent attempts to block Kyiv's supply through legislation.
Lend-Lease is a program under which the United States provided long-term leases or loans of military equipment and equipment to the Allies during World War II. The US Congress passed a bill providing assistance to Ukraine under the lend-lease program to speed up and simplify the delivery of military aid to the country.
The extended powers of the US president will expire when the war ends, and the number of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine is reduced to March 2021. However, Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the Russian State Duma, criticized the lend-lease program, saying that it would bring Ukraine into debt.
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