US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday, Kyiv Independent reports, that Ukraine’s survival in the face of a full-scale Russian invasion is at risk, posing a risk to America.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group in Ramstein, Germany, Austin said he was “fully committed to ensuring that American security assistance and ammunition flows are secured.”

“And for Ukraine it is a matter of survival and sovereignty, and for America it is a matter of honor and security,” he added.

Aid to Ukraine has been blocked in the US Congress since the fall of 2023.

On February 13, the US Senate approved a $95 billion foreign aid bill that includes $60 billion for Ukraine, as well as funds for Israel and other allies, but House Speaker Mike Johnson is currently refusing to bring it up for a vote in the House. Representatives

Earlier, The Hill reported that Johnson offered to offer a package of aid to Ukraine in the form of a loan or a lend-lease program for the benefit of American taxpayers.

The U.S. State Department has criticized the Republican idea of ​​loan aid to Ukraine, saying it is a move designed to “burden Ukraine with billions of dollars in foreign debt” during wartime.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian troops have a catastrophic shortage of ammunition, especially 155-mm artillery shells.

The shortage is also affecting air defenses, with the Washington Post reporting this week that ammunition for some systems that defend Ukrainian cities could be nearly depleted by the end of March.

Ukraine has tried to shoot down four out of every five missiles aimed at its cities, but a lack of munitions to defend itself may soon force it to shoot down only one in five, an official told the newspaper.

Patriot system Photo: ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia

Ukraine hopes that from April it will receive enough munitions to hold back the Russian advance when shells bought in third countries at the initiative of the Czech Republic begin to arrive, while Germany on Tuesday announced new military aid to Ukraine worth 500 million euros and which includes 10 000 shells.

“We hope that this initiative of the Czech Republic, to which Luxembourg has joined, will help us, and from April we will have enough ammunition to hold the front line,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a press conference during an official visit to Luxembourg .

The head of the European Union’s foreign policy department, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday that he will propose that the EU use 90% of the revenues received from Russian assets frozen in Europe to purchase weapons for Ukraine through the European Peace Fund. Reuters reports.

The head of European diplomacy told the press in Brussels that he will offer to transfer the remaining 10% to the EU budget to increase the potential of the Ukrainian defense industry.

Russian assets seized in the European Union after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine could bring in a total of 15 billion to 20 billion euros by 2027, depending on changes in global interest rates, a senior EU official said last Tuesday.