Biden proposes additional $682 million in aid to Ukraine in his new White House budget request

• The White House released its FY 2023 budget proposals on Monday.
• Biden is requesting an additional $682 million in aid for Ukraine as it fights against Russia.
• The budget is a wish list, and Congress has to pass legislation to enact any spending request.

President Joe Biden has proposed a significant increase in aid to Ukraine as part of his $5.8 trillion budget request to Congress for the upcoming fiscal year as Russia’s bombardment of the country shows little sign of slowing.

The White House proposed $682 million in funding for Ukraine under proposals to fund the State Department, US Agency for International Development, and other international efforts for fiscal year 2023, which begins on July 1.

The White House said the new proposal for Ukraine is an increase of $219 million above what the US sent to that country in the 2021 fiscal year.

The White House said the funds are needed to “to continue to counter Russian malign influence and to meet emerging needs related to security, energy, cyber security issues, disinformation, macroeconomic stabilization, and civil society resilience.”

The request comes as Russia continues to bombard Ukraine, displacing millions of people and reducing portions of major cities to rubble.

“I’m calling for continued investment to forcefully respond to Putin’s aggression against Ukraine with US support for Ukraine’s economic, humanitarian, and security needs,” Biden said in a statement released alongside the 156-page budget plan.

The $682 million in proposed aid comes on the heels of $13.6 billion in assistance for Ukraine that Congress approved as part of a $1.5 trillion spending bill in March 2022. That number included $4 billion to assist refugees and $3 billion in military support for the United States European Command. Biden signed the bill into law on March 15. 

Congress will consider the requests in Biden’s budget proposal but will ultimately decide spending levels for each federal agency. That means a president requesting funds does not necessarily result in Congress making their fiscal wish-list a reality. While there has been bipartisan support for American aid to Ukraine in Congress, Republican opposition and divisions within the Democratic Party have stymied much of Biden’s agenda during his first year in office.

In a statement, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the funding from Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget was necessary as “America continues to counter Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine.”