“Not just foreign aid”: Speaker Johnson is preparing a “mysterious package” for Ukraine – WSJ

Mike Johnson has prepared an aid package from the US/Collage 24 Channel

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson promised to soon bring to a vote the issue of support for our state. This is likely to happen in the coming days, but what the relief package will look like and who will support it is still unknown as tensions between Republicans and Democrats continue to escalate.

However, in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, disputes between Republicans continue to be heard. At the same time, threats to remove Speaker Mike Johnson from his post continue. It is likely that similar discussions in the US Congress could lead to the fact that the long-awaited decision on funding in support of Ukraine and other allies will be postponed again.

“The United States is doing too much for Ukraine”

Back in February 2024, the United States Senate, with bipartisan support, passed a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

The Speaker of the House was considering splitting the aid, which could maximize Democratic votes for our nearly $60 billion state.

In addition, Johnson offered several proposals that may collect additional votes. These include turning part of the aid to Ukraine into a loan, as well as the confiscation of seized Russian assets to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine. natural gas. However, according to the publication, a significant part of the Republicans who participated in the discussion of the package claim that they did not see the final text.

In particular, last September, more than half of the Republicans in the US House of Representatives officially opposed aid to Ukraine. Polls show that more and more Republican voters believe that the United States is doing too much for Ukraine.

Use of frozen Russian assets

The Wall Street Journal reports that among the “innovations” Johnson also proposed is the REPO Act “On Restoring Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians.”

Such bipartisan legislation would tap billions of dollars from the Russian Central Bank's frozen reserves and help pay for our government's support.

However, according to some officials, such a decision will not be able to replace Western assistance as the main source of military funding due to legal difficulties in jurisdiction. The main reason for this is that most of Russia's money is still stored in the EU. Russian assets from the category of frozen to the category of arrested. Only then will it be possible to place them in an international trust fund, which will be subject to audit and transparency requirements.

Assistance in the form of a loan

Among Mike Johnson's proposals, American journalists highlight the possibility of converting at least part of the aid into a loan format, which sooner or later Ukraine will still be forced to repay.

“We're not just giving foreign aid, we're establishing a relationship where they can give it back to us when the time is right,” Johnson says.

Republicans say their focus was focused on providing direct budgetary support to the Ukrainian government in the form of a loan. For example, Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Donald Trump, said that loans to Ukraine and other US allies should not be interest-free and could be withdrawn.

At the same time, other Republicans insist that the House of Representatives reinstate a simplified loan-leasing system for Ukraine modeled on a World War II program. It would allow the US government to provide weapons through loans or leasing.

The publication notes that about two years ago, Congress gave the Joe Biden administration the authority to speed up the provision of loans or leasing of military equipment to Ukraine . However, these powers expired in September and were never used.

Gas export permits

WSJ also reports that Mike Johnson is also trying to tie aid to Ukraine to the lifting of the Joe Biden administration's freeze on permits for new liquefied natural gas export projects.

Previously, the administration of the American leader was criticized for the decision to suspend the issuance of new permits for the export of LNG (liquefied natural gas, the same as liquefied – 24 Channel).

The oil and gas industry criticized the decision as a political stunt, which comes at a dangerous time for US allies, which are importing record amounts of American liquefied natural gas to replace Russian gas.< /p>