US State Department on Congress proposals to provide Ukraine assistance as a loan

The US State Department has commented on the proposals from Republicans in Congress to provide non-military assistance to Ukraine as a loan.

"We do not think that saddling Ukraine with billions of dollars of foreign debt when it is trying to revive its economy – which ultimately is the best way for its – to stand on its […] own two feet, and defend itself without aid from other countries – is an appropriate step at this time," Matthew Miller, Spokesperson for the United States Department of State, said at a briefing.

Earlier, the media reported that the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, and the chairs of key House committees on national security issues from the Republican Party are working on developing their own aid package for Ukraine.

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Mike McCaul (Republican, Texas) and Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican, South Carolina), participants in the discussions, said that a part of non-military assistance for Ukraine was proposed to be given as a loan.

McCaul said the plan could also have a generous repayment system to help Ukraine.

In turn, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham believes that the idea, voiced by the most likely Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, to transform a portion of the aid to Kyiv into a loan will help unlock the supplemental request in the House of Representatives.

On 12 March, it was reported that Democrats in the US House of Representatives are preparing an attempt to bypass Republican Speaker Mike Johnson to force him to bring to a vote a package of aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan totalling US$95 billion.

Before this, Johnson scuttled a bipartisan package of support for Ukraine proposed by the Senate but left the door open for a new bipartisan foreign aid package. Congressman Mike McCaul took a leading role in revising the proposal for a new project and reaching a consensus among party members to pass the package by the end of March or in April.

Speaker Johnson stated that the bill for additional funding to Ukraine will be considered as soon as the federal government's funding issue is resolved.