Yesterday, 28 April, the United States passed a law allowing the Biden administration to launch a large-scale Lend-Lease program for the purpose of economic and military assistance to Ukraine. Money for its financing will be allocated from the country's budget and the seized accounts of Russian oligarchs. Read today in the magazine USA.ONE:
What is Lend-Lease and how will it help Ukraine win
And also, where will 33 billion dollars be spent?
The US adopted Lend-Lease 
photo: footboom.com
The White House's $33 billion request includes $20 billion for weapons and military needs, $8.5 billion for direct economic assistance to Kyiv and another $3 billion for humanitarian aid and food supplies. This money should be enough for Ukraine until September. According to US President Joe Biden, the cost of fighting against Russia is not cheap, but concessions to it will cost even more.
"We will either support the people of Ukraine as they defend their country, or we will stand by and watch as the Russians continue their aggression and atrocities in Ukraine," — he said.
Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi also made a statement, calling the war in Ukraine a battle between democracy and autocracy, and repeating Roosevelt's call for Americans to provide fuel to keep the light of democracy burning.
"Our task today is still the same. Ukrainians are fighting for us all," — she said.
Lend-Lease involves the supply of military equipment for lease to the allies. The United States approved this program for the first time after helping Europe defeat Hitler in World War II. The corresponding law was passed in the US Congress with 417 votes "for" and 10 "against". The President only has to sign the document, after which his administration will independently decide what and in what volume to provide to the Ukrainian government and army.
The Lend-Lease program will reduce the amount of bureaucracy in the provision of assistance and speed up deliveries to Kyiv. Republican Senator John Cornyn also commented on the adoption of the law. In his opinion, the Ukrainian army showed incredible courage and courage, so the United States should serve as an arsenal for democracy and ensure that Ukraine has the necessary set of resources to protect its sovereignty.
In particular, from American warehouses, Kiev will receive M2A3 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems, 155-mm M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, third-generation Abrams tanks, fourth-generation F-16 fighters and HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems on a wheeled chassis. Lend-Lease will remain in effect until the end of the war in Ukraine. In the future, Kyiv will need to return or compensate for those supplies that will be lost on the battlefield.
In order for Ukraine to be able to pay for Lend-Lease, America plans to transfer frozen Russian assets into its ownership. The corresponding bill was approved by over 400 US congressmen on Wednesday, April 27. They decided to confiscate in favor of Ukraine the planes, yachts and villas of Russian oligarchs worth over $2 million, who were previously subject to sanctions due to their involvement in Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
The White House reported that American authorities have already seized and blocked the private property of Russian billionaires, the total value of which exceeds a billion dollars. More than 30 billion Russian assets are frozen in the European Union, 7 of which are helicopters, real estate, ships and art objects. The Spanish authorities alone confiscated, at the request of the United States, a 78-meter yacht worth $90 million from billionaire Viktor Vekselberg.
At the beginning of the war, Putin's loss seemed unlikely to many. Western experts considered the Russian army powerful, modernized and much better funded than the Ukrainian one. American economist Paul Krugman said that Ukraine's long-term prospects were in doubt. The Russian economy was 8 times larger and this gap is only growing. Despite the sanctions, production in Russia suffered less than what was destroyed due to the war in Ukraine. Many expected Putin to win due to his superiority in resources.
However, this is not what the US is seeing now. Officials spoke optimistically about Ukraine's victory. According to Krugman, Great Britain was in the same situation in 1940. She was able to defeat an enemy that seemed invincible. British aviation fought back against the German Luftwaffe. Seeing this, US President Franklin Roosevelt passed the Lend-Lease Act to provide large quantities of weapons, fuel and food to the occupied British. He later helped to defeat Hitler.
"Lend-Lease was revived, large-scale military supplies will flow to Ukraine not only from the United States, but also from the allies. This aid will work sharply against Putin. The Russian economy, although larger than the Ukrainian one, is smaller compared to the American one, as well as the economies of the allied Western countries," — Paul Krugman shared his opinion.
The victory of Ukraine will be a triumph for the whole world. War criminals and aggressors from Russia will lie low for a long time. Not only Ukrainians, but also many leaders of Western countries will be able to take credit for the victory over Putin. The leaders of Poland, the Baltic countries, the United States and Great Britain, who are helping Kiev survive this crisis, can go down in the history books as “brave and effective freedom fighters,” Krugman believes.
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