Despite the stall in aid to Kyiv, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vowed Tuesday that the United States will not let Ukraine fail as they face depleting munitions.
The Republican-led House of Representatives has been a roadblock to a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine, and the United States has warned that a recent $300 million package would only suffice for a few weeks.
At the opening of a meeting in Germany, Austin spoke to many of Ukraine's international supporters, reassuring the crowd that the "United States will not let Ukraine fail."
"We remain determined to provide Ukraine with the resources that it needs to resist the Kremlin's aggression," he added.
Austin added that the recent $300 million assistance package approved for Ukraine last week was made possible by savings on recent purchases made by the Pentagon.
"We were only able to support this much-needed package by identifying some unanticipated contract savings," Austin said.
Additionally, top US military officer General Charles "CQ" Brown told journalists traveling to the meeting in Ukraine that Kyiv's troops are "having to pay attention to their supply rates, and how they execute."
Brown continued, saying there is an "incremental kind of back and forth between Ukraine in Russia," with "incremental gains on both sides," but emphasized that "even as the Russians have gained territory, they do it at a pretty big cost in number of casualties, like in personnel, but also in number of pieces of equipment that are being taken out."
Austin noted that "at least 315,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded" since Russia initiated its full-on invasion of Ukraine in 2022, while also highlighting Moscow's "squandering of up to $211 billion to equip, deploy, maintain, and sustain its imperial aggression against Ukraine," reported Kyiv Post.
The United States is considered Kyiv's biggest supporter, having committed tens of billions of dollars to the war effort since Russia bagan it's invasion of the eastern Oblasts in Febraury 2022.
Future Ukraine aid, however, is currently stalled in the U.S. as the Republican-led House debates how to best tackle delivering aid. While some Republicans back ending Ukraine aid all-together, some Republicans, including former president Donald Trump, are floating the idea of turning foriegn aid into loans, to be paid back to the U.S. in an agreed upon time.
Among the champions of this idea is Sen. Lindsey Graham, who posted the strategy on social media, calling for the US to implement a "no-interest, waivable loan" for Ukraine following his meeting with President Zelensky.
Republican Speaker Mike Johnson seemed open to the idea and has said he is willing to look at a proposal.
Whether Democrats agree to the plan remains unclear. According to a senior Democrat who spoke with Politico, they are willing to enter negotiations if it means moving the bill forward.
"Everyone is willing to talk if people are acting in good faith," the person allegedly said.
