Senator King: U.S. removes Ukraine aid
- Senator Angus King said the Pentagon’s proposed fiscal 2027 budget contains no new Ukraine military aid, and he pressed Pete Hegseth in Senate testimony. - The missing line item is the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, even though Congress approved a fresh $400 million USAI package in December 2025. - Europe is still moving money — with a €2.7 billion EU tranche due in June — but the U.S. shift raises burden-sharing pressure.
The fight here is over military aid, not diplomacy. Senator Angus King says the Trump administration’s proposed 2027 Pentagon budget simply leaves out new money for Ukraine. That matters because U.S. weapons support has been one of Kyiv’s core lifelines for more than four years. And it lands at a moment when Europe is still funding Ukraine, Russia is still escalating drone attacks, and Washington looks more willing to step back. (king.senate.gov) ### What did King actually say? At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on May 1, King challenged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Pentagon comptroller Jules Hurst over what he called a complete lack of resources for Ukraine in the fiscal 2027 defense request. The key point was blunt — he said the budget contains no military assistance for Kyiv at all, and framed that as the U.S. abandoning a partner still fighting a live war. (king.senate.gov) ### What’s missing from the budget? The missing piece is new funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, or USAI. That program pays for the Pentagon to buy weapons and equipment from defense companies for Ukraine, rather than pulling gear directly from U.S. stockpiles. Coverage of the hearing says the proposed budget zeros(king.senate.gov)ation. (kyivpost.com) ### Why is that a big deal? Because this is not an accounting footnote. USAI is one of the main ways Washington turns political support into actual long-term military capacity for Ukraine. If that line goes to zero, the signal is bigger than the dollar amount — it tells allies, investors, and Kyiv itself that future U.S. support is no longer something they can plan around. (kyivpost.com)e gap? Partly, yes. Ukrainian officials say the EU is preparing a €2.7 billion Ukraine Facility tranche for June after Kyiv passed the laws tied to the next payout. That means Brussels is still using reform-linked financing to keep money flowing even as Washington debates whether to keep underwriting the war effort at all. (uazmi.com) money? That track is moving too, but it solves a different problem. Ukraine says the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund has drawn 282 applications from more than 15 countries in its first year, with energy projects leading the queue. Basically, private and public investors still see a rebuilding story in Ukraine — but reconstruction capita(uazmi.com) (kyivpost.com) ### Why does the timing look so stark? Because Russia is still attacking at scale. On May 1, Ukrainian officials said Russia launched 409 drones in a broad daytime assault, and 388 were downed or neutralized; 10 people were reported injured in Ternopil. So the budget fight is happening while the war is still very much in its high-intensity phase, not after some ceasefire or frozen front made outside support less urgent. (usnews.com) ### Does this mean U.S. aid is over? Not automatically. A proposed Pentagon budget is not the final word, and Congress can still add money back in. But the administration’s opening position matters — it shows where the White House wants the burden to move, and that appears to be toward Europe. (king.senate.gov)just one missing budget line. It is that Europe is still financing Ukraine’s survival and recovery while the Trump administration is signaling that future U.S. military backing may no longer be a given. (king.senate.gov)
