Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the Biden administration is working to send as much military aid as possible to Ukraine while it still can before President-elect Donald Trump—who has promised to end the Ukraine-Russia war and questioned the amount of U.S. aid sent to Ukraine—takes office in January.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a media conference at NATO ... [+]
Blinken made the comments Wednesday in Brussels where he was meeting with European security officials to discuss support for Ukraine, The Washington Post reported.
Blinken was clear that the Biden administration would administer as much support as possible, saying, “President Biden is committed to make sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and Jan. 20.”
The Biden administration has been a major advocate of Ukraine in its war with Russia, sending at least $174 billion in aid and military assistance to Ukraine from the time the war began in February 2022 to this April, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Trump has regularly claimed the war would not have begun were he in office in 2022 and has said he could end the war before he takes office in January—though he hasn’t provided details on how he would do that.
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Blinken told reporters in Brussels the purpose of the visit was “to focus our efforts on ensuring that Ukraine has the money, the munitions and the mobilized forces to fight effectively in 2025 or to be able to negotiate a peace from a position of strength.”
Trump’s team has said his “Day 1” agenda includes “bringing Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table to end this war.” Before winning the White House in his reelection bid last week, Trump had repeatedly insisted he would facilitate a quick end to the war, citing his “very good relationship” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has been openly wary of the amount of aid and support the U.S. has sent Ukraine throughout its war, saying in June Zelensky was “the greatest salesman of any politician that's ever lived” and the requests for money “never ends. I will have that settled prior to taking the White House as president-elect.” Over the summer, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization began work on a plan to “Trump-proof” the Ukraine Defense Contact Group over concerns a Trump presidency could end the support Ukraine needs, Politico reported.
Earlier this week, Putin’s team said reports alleging Trump had called the Kremlin and warned him against escalating the conflict in Ukraine were false. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s top spokesperson, said the reports were “completely untrue” and “pure fiction” and that Trump and Putin had not spoken. Trump’s team did not comment on the call, telling Reuters, “We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders.”