Pentagon officials, where personnel purges are ongoing, confirmed the allocation of $400 million for Ukraine, which was already approved by Congress back in 2025, after Senator Mitch McConnell, who heads the US Senate Committee on Defense Spending , criticized Pentagon leadership for withholding the money.
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“The funding was allocated for European capability building, and as of yesterday, it has been released,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the House Armed Services Committee at a hearing.
Senator Mitch McConnell raised this issue in his article this week, Bloomberg writes.
“The aid to Ukraine that we approved months ago is now gathering dust in the Pentagon,” McConnell wrote in the Washington Post. “When senators sought clarification from the department’s policy committee, headed by Undersecretary Elbridge Colby, they were ignored.”
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U.S. support for Ukraine has waned as President Donald Trump and the G20 insist that Europeans fund Ukraine's fight against Russia. Trump spoke with Putin the other day and said the Russian leader could soon announce a “small ceasefire,” presumably linked to Russia's “victory” on May 9.
Acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst, who also testified before the House committee, said the funds have not yet been contracted and how they will be used will depend on what defense equipment the Ukrainians want to purchase.
Hegseth, who testified before the Armed Services Committee on the Pentagon's record $1.5 trillion budget request, responded to questions from House Democrats about the Trump administration's reduction in support for Ukraine.
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However, this is not surprising, because, as “FACTS” previously wrote, Vice President Vance called the Trump administration's cessation of aid to Ukraine in the war an “achievement.”