Ukraine did not receive the $16 billion in American assistance provided for by previous agreements and decisions. President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the provision of these funds was halted, and Kyiv must seek to receive them and work on a new support package from the United States.
The head of state spoke about this in an interview with TSN on the sidelines of the Ibero-American summit in Madrid, answering a question about the prospects of American aid after the midterm elections to the US Congress.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine must return to the issue of fulfilling previous agreements with Washington, since a significant portion of the earmarked support has not arrived.
"The question must be raised that from past agreements and from past decisions, 16 billion were stopped and 16 billion were not provided", the president said.
He emphasized that Ukraine is grateful to the American side for the support already provided, but this does not mean that Kyiv should give up the funds provided for by previous decisions.
"We are grateful for everything that was given, but at least for this money Ukraine must fight", Zelensky noted.
The president did not specify which American assistance programs he was referring to, when the relevant decisions were made, and what portion of the funds was intended for military or other needs. Therefore, the named $16 billion is currently an estimate by the Ukrainian president, not a detailed list of unfulfilled U.S. financial commitments.
Separately, Zelensky said that Ukraine must work on the adoption of a new package of American support. In his opinion, the change in the political balance in the US Congress after the midterm elections could create additional opportunities for this.
The head of state emphasized the need to quickly establish dialogue with the new political configuration in Washington, while maintaining support for Ukraine from both major American parties.
"Understanding the redistribution of forces, we need to properly build a dialogue. Now our chances of getting additional assistance from the United States of America may increase", the president said.
Zelensky noted that the Ukrainian side should maintain contacts not only with the U.S. presidential administration, but also with the Senate, House of Representatives, and the Department of Defense.
One of the main tasks in cooperation with the U.S., the president named ensuring Ukraine with air defense means, primarily missiles for Patriot systems. According to him, without solving this issue, it will be difficult for Ukraine to counter Russian attacks.
At the same time, Zelensky did not report any new agreements on U.S. funding or specific deadlines for the possible resumption of the halted assistance.
Based on materials: TSN - interview with Volodymyr Zelensky, TSN
