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What the $40 billion US aid law meant for Ukraine
Summary
A look back at the US aid package signed on 21 May 2022 and the Kremlin warning over NATO that preceded it.
What did Washington commit to Ukraine in the days around 22 May 2022? By that date, the answer was a $40 billion package, signed into law a day earlier by United States President Joe Biden.
What the law covered
According to reports at the time, the bill provided military and economic aid for Ukraine. It also replenished stocks of U.S. equipment sent to Ukraine, funded European Command operations and addressed the global food crisis. The scope was therefore wider than weapons alone, combining battlefield support, the cost of restocking American inventories and a response to food supply pressures.
The path through Congress
The United States Senate had passed the package on 19 May 2022 by 86 votes to 11, sending it to the president for his signature. He signed it on 21 May 2022. The size of the Senate majority showed how far the measure had cleared the chamber before it reached his desk.
The regional backdrop
The aid arrived as the security debate in northern Europe moved quickly. On 16 May 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia would react to an expansion of NATO's military infrastructure in Sweden and Finland. He said problems were being created for no reason at all and that Russia would react accordingly.
The two developments, reported within a week of each other, marked the political context on 22 May 2022: a large US financial and military commitment to Kyiv on one side, and a Russian warning over NATO's enlargement on the other.
