(FreedomBeacon.com)- Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Mark Milley reportedly informed Congressional leaders that Congress must appropriate more money for Ukraine by June, Newsmax reported on Monday.
During a meeting with Congressional leaders last Thursday, Milley said for Ukraine to maintain operations against Russian attacks, Congress must approve another spending package by June, according to sources.
The Washington Examiner reported that General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the chairman of Ukraine’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said he told General Milley that Ukrainian troops needed F-16 fighter jets during a phone call with Milley on Monday.
General Zaluzhnyi said he and his US counterpart discussed Ukraine’s need to beef up its air defense capabilities, particularly through the supply of F-16s, the Examiner reported.
A spokesman for the US Joint Chiefs said in a statement after Monday’s phone call that General Milley reaffirmed the US’s “unwavering support” for the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Ukraine.
Ukraine officials have repeatedly asked the US and its allies for F-16s, however, President Biden ruled out sending the fighter jets, saying in an interview last week that the Ukrainian military “doesn’t need F-16s now.”
In an interview on CNN last weekend, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the Biden administration determined that F-16s are not necessary at this “phase of the war.” Sullivan added that in this phase, the weapons required are tanks, infantry vehicles, tactical air defense systems, armored personnel carriers, and artillery. He explained that this is what Ukraine requires to “retake” Russian-occupied territories.
Republican Congressman Michael McCaul told ABC News on Sunday that after speaking with General Milley, he doesn’t think the administration has taken F-16s “off the table.” McCaul said if there is “enough pressure” from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, he believes the US can provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to defeat Russia.
