US to send Ukraine more than $300 million in weapons using savings from an Army contract even though Pentagon needs $10billion to replenish its weapons stockpile

The United States is preparing a new $300 military aid package for Ukraine as House Republicans continue to block funding for the war-torn country.

The aid will be paid for from savings the Pentagon has from previous contracts it has negotiated.

'I'm announcing an emergency package of security assistance of $300 billion worth of weapons and equipment to address some of Ukraine's pressing needs,' White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.

'This is possible because of unanticipated cost savings in contracts that DOD negotiated to replace equipment we've already sent to Ukraine through previous drawdowns. When we sent Ukraine weapons last year, we negotiated contracts to replenish those weapons in US stockpiles.' 

'It turns out, we negotiated well, those contracts came in under budget. So we have a modest amount of funding available. and to put a fine point on it. we're able to use these cost savings to make this modest amount of the security assistance available right now without impacting US military readiness.

A local resident collects belongings in the ruins of a destroyed houset on the outskirts of Makiivka (Makeyevka) in the Donetsk region of Ukraine as the Pentagon has found a work around to send more weapons to the war-torn country

The House has not passed a $95 billion security package that bolsters aid for Ukraine, Israel as well as the Indo-Pacific.  It has already been approved by the Senate.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has resisted putting up the bill up for a vote as many in his conservative wing oppose sending Ukraine any more funding.

Sullivan emphasized the money doesn't replace the security package on Capitol Hill.

'tI will not prevent Ukraine from running out of ammunition in the weeks to come. It goes without saying: this package does not displace and should not delay the critical need to pass the bipartisan national security,' he noted.  

The new tranche of aid will include a number of Army Tactical Missile Systems along with Anti-Personnel/Anti-Materiel, or APAM, an older version of the long-range ATACMS, which travels 100 miles and carries warheads containing hundreds of cluster bomblets, Politico reported.

The Pentagon has been unable to send additional weapons to Kyiv since December, when it ran out of money to replenish its stocks.

Reports out of Ukraine indicate soldiers are running out of ammunition as it fights off Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces.

President Joe Biden (left) has been pushing House Speaker Mike Johnson (right) to approve a $95 billion security package that includes funding for Ukraine

A fighter jet flies during a funeral of Ukrainian military fighter pilot Lieutenant Colonel Andrii Tkachenko who was shot down flying over Donetsk region amid Russia's attack on Ukraine

The Pentagon has sent $10 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine but is now trying to get appropriators in Congress to approve more funds. 

On Monday, Biden's Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines urged lawmakers to approve more military assistance for Ukraine, telling lawmakers on Capitol Hill it was 'hard to imagine how Ukraine' could hold territory it has recaptured from Russia without more assistance from Washington.