Republican congressmen in the US are working out an alternative aid package for Kiev, part of which could be in the form of a loan, NBC News reports, citing sources.
“House Speaker Mike Johnson and the chairs of key House committees that have to do with national security are working on developing their own aid package for Ukraine,” the TV channel said.
The head of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, noted that the possibility of providing some non-military aid to Kiev on credit is being considered.
“Economic assistance to support the overall functioning of Ukraine’s government and its long-term reconstruction measures would be the subject of the loan,” the TV channel points out.
According to McCaul, frozen Russian assets could be used as collateral for this loan.
At the same time, an unnamed US official told the TV channel that the proposed option is not ideal.
“Asking a country to take on tens of millions of dollars of debt that it cannot repay … (This) will damage Ukraine in the long run and could further lead to economic crises,” he said.
Congress, because of the position of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, has so far failed to support President Joe Biden’s administration’s request for another $60 billion for Kiev. Previously allocated funds ran out last December, with parts of previously announced military aid packages going to Ukraine in fulfilment of previous contracts. Former US leader and the most likely candidate for the US Republican presidential nomination in the 2024 election, Donald Trump, has previously proposed to stop donating aid to foreign countries, turning such support into credit loans.