Pentagon: Direct aid, not loan is best way to support Ukraine
Ukrinform
The best way to help Ukraine would be to pass a bill envisaging the allocation of more than $60 billion in direct aid to Ukraine, rather than make this assistance a loan or lend-lease type of program.
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said this at a briefing on Thursday, March 14, commenting on House Speaker Mike Johnson's initiative to offer Ukraine a loan, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.
"I know negotiations are ongoing in Congress. I'm not going to get ahead of those. Right now, what we need is a supplemental," Singh said.
She added that Ukraine was going through a war and it was going to be very hard for the country to repay these loans.
John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, voiced a similar position on Thursday. He noted that the bill, already approved by the Senate last month, best meets the defense needs of Ukrainians, as well as other security challenges around the world.
