President Joe Biden requested approval from Congress for the package that would include military, economic and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
The president’s proposal has already received tentative support from some Republicans, as NATO warns the conflict could last for years.
At $33 billion, the package is substantial and comparable to, even larger than, the defense budgets of entire countries.
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the claim
A tweet from former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul claims that the proposed $33 billion in US aid to Ukraine would be worth more than half of what Russia spent on its military in 2021. tweet was sent on April 29, 2022.
Biden’s new Ukraine aid package: $33 billion, including $20 billion in military assistance.
Russian military budget for 2021: 65.9 billion dollars.
—Michael McFaul (@McFaul) April 29, 2022
The facts
McFaul, who served as the US ambassador to the Russian Federation from 2012 to 2014, did not include a specific source for this claim in either his tweet or responses.
However, we already know that Biden’s proposed aid package would be a significant step in the US contribution to the conflict. Last month, Congress approved $13.6 billion in aid to help Ukraine, less than half of the current proposal.
The spending proposal arguably coincides with increasingly strident rhetoric in Washington surrounding the conflict. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently declared that the United States wants to see Russia “so weakened” that it will not be able to launch a new invasion like the one seen in Ukraine.
But would Biden’s proposed aid package cost more than half of what Russia spent on its military in 2021? Looking at the publicly available figures, the answer seems to be yes.
IA report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on April 25, 2022, showed that of the more than $2 trillion in global military spending in 2021, Russia spent $65.9 billion, making it the fifth largest investor in the world.
It is the third consecutive year that the country’s military spending has grown, rising 2.9 percent.
SIPRI, which has published military spending data from 1949 to 2021, uses official government sources to compile its reports. The spending it monitors includes current and capital spending on the armed forces, defense ministries, paramilitary forces, and military space activities.
Although the invasion has caused devastating destruction in Ukraine, Russia’s military forces and infrastructure have also suffered considerable damage during the conflict.
Research website Bellingcast estimates that Russia has already lost 70 percent of its precision missiles, while evidence from other sources suggests that 3,222 Russian military vehicles and equipment have been lost in Ukraine in the past two months.
In March, NATO estimated that Russia may have lost between 7,000 and 15,000 soldiers.
A recent survey by the non-governmental research association Levada Center found that amid the country’s losses in military personnel and equipment, Russian public support for and interest in the war had waned.
Biden’s proposal for a $33 billion aid package includes $20.4 billion in military assistance. Announcing the request on April 28, 2022, Biden said: “The cost of this fight is not cheap, but giving in to aggression is more costly if we allow it to happen.
“Either we support the Ukrainian people as they defend their country or we stand by while the Russians continue their atrocities and aggression in Ukraine.”
He added that it was “critical that this funding be approved and approved as quickly as possible.”
failure
Real.
Data taken from official Russian government sources via SIPRI shows that he spent $65.9 billion on his military in 2021. Thus, the amount Biden wants to spend on Ukraine is worth more than half of what Russia spent. in his army last year.
NEWSWEEK FACT CHECK
Reference-www.newsweek.com