The administration of US President Joe Biden has sent Congress a secret report on its military strategy in Ukraine. This comes months after the $61 billion aid law passed in April set a June deadline, Reuters reports, citing Focus.
A congressional aide said the report reached lawmakers on Sept. 9 and they have not yet had a chance to review it. Two other anonymous sources confirmed that the report had been delivered.
In the two and a half years since Russia's full-scale invasion, Congress has approved nearly $175 billion in aid and military support for Ukraine and allied countries.
After months of delay, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed a $95 billion supplemental spending bill in April that included $61 billion in funding for Ukraine, as well as billions of dollars for Israel, civilians in conflict zones around the world and for "countering Communist China" in the Indo-Pacific region.
As part of the legislation, Congress ordered the Biden administration to present a detailed strategy on Ukraine by early June.
Biden's aid to Ukraine is supported by Democrats and many Republicans in Congress. But some Republicans have criticized his administration for restricting Ukraine's use of American equipment, such as refusing to deliver weapons that can hit targets deep inside Russia.
Washington has limited their use because of limited missile supplies, a lack of justification for their use given that most Russian aircraft are out of range, and concerns that it would escalate the conflict.
Weeks after the deadline passed without the report, some members of Congress said they were disappointed and would consider blocking further funding.
In a statement sent to Reuters in late August about the report, Sen. Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he supported aid to Ukraine but was not doing so blindly.
"From the earliest days of Putin's war with Ukraine, we have asked the Biden-Harris administration to develop a strategy for how the United States and our allies can help Ukraine win the war. When they did not respond to our requests, we directed that the strategy be sent to Congress, but the deadline has passed and there has been no response.
President Biden and Vice President Harris need to provide a strategy not only to us, but to the American people, and failure to do so suggests they either don't have one or are afraid to share it,” Risch said at the time.
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