Despite no money left for Ukraine aid, Defense Department keeps training pipeline going
By Oren Liebermann and Haley Britzky, CNN
(CNN) — Despite there being no money left for Ukraine aid, the Defense Department is keeping the training pipeline going, with nearly 1,600 Ukrainian troops currently in US training programs in Europe and the US.
At Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany — the US military’s largest training base in Europe — approximately 1,500 Ukrainian troops are taking part in weapons training, leadership courses, and reconstitution training, according to Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for US Army Europe and Africa.
Another 80 Ukrainian troops are undergoing training at the US base in Rheinland-Pfalz in Germany, O’Donnell said. A small number of Ukrainian pilots are also undergoing pilot training in Tucson, Arizona, to fly F-16 fighter jets.
Celeste Wallander, the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, said earlier this week that the goal is to have Ukraine operating F-16s this year, “which would entail trained pilots, the platforms, but in addition, trained maintainers and sustainers, infrastructure, and spare parts, [and] ammunition.”
To date, the United States has trained approximately 18,000 Ukrainian troops in different programs like combined arms training, leadership training, and learning to use specific weapons and systems, O’Donnell said. The coalition of countries that are providing training to Ukrainian forces have trained more than 118,000 troops in 80 different training areas.
The training program for Ukrainian forces has continued, even as the US has run out of money to provide Ukraine with any more security packages. The Biden administration is pushing for $61.4 billion dollars for Ukraine aid in a supplemental national security package, but its future prospects remain unclear amid ongoing congressional negotiations over the southern border and immigration policies.
The last Ukraine security package, worth up to $250 million, was announced on December 27. Some weapons and equipment from previous drawdown packages and Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) packages are still flowing into Ukraine, but the US has not been able to announce new packages.
Wallander warned that Ukraine has concerns about how equipped their units are and whether they have enough ammunition to stay in the fight against Russia.
“We have heard reports from the Ukrainian government that they have concerns … that they believe that units do not have the stocks and the stores of ammunition that they require, and that is one of the reasons we have been focusing on the need to answer Congress’ questions so that they are able to move forward on a decision to pass the supplemental,” Wallander told reporters Tuesday.
The-CNN-Wire
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