Yesterday, on May 9, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Lend-Lease Act for Ukraine.
In media reports, this event was often called historical and the one that almost automatically leads to victory in the war with Russia. Even the lists of weapons that Ukraine now supposedly may get were published.
In fact, such expectations may not be related to the act itself. Let's explain why.
The law S.3522 is called "Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022". Its text is very short — several dozen lines on one page. It does not contain any amounts of money, lists of weapons, etc.
The essence of the law is simple — the President of the United States is entitled under a simplified procedure, that is, without asking, as is usually done, the consent of Congress, to decide on the lease of weapons to Ukraine and a number of Eastern European countries affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Also in 2022 and 2023, such lease agreements are exempt from some of the restrictions and requirements that are normally applied to Lend-Lease agreements, including the requirement that the term of the loan or lease must not exceed five years.
Thus, the law only simplifies the bureaucratic procedure. But the money to finance the supply of arms and weapons to Ukraine will still be allocated by the Congress.
In this regard, let us note that the Biden administration appealed to Congress on May 9 with an urgent request to pass a bill on additional financial assistance to Ukraine by May 19, as the previously allocated money is running out.
The day before, Biden also urged lawmakers to pass the bill and submit it for signature in the next few days. "We cannot allow our aid supplies to stop while we wait for further action by Congress," he said.
Earlier it was reported that the Congress House of Representatives may vote on May 10 for the allocation of $39.8 billion in additional assistance to Ukraine and a number of other countries.
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