Defense & National Security — A ‘pivotal moment’ in Ukraine

by Ellen Mitchell - 06/15/22 7:56 PM ET

The Biden administration announced another $1 billion in military assistance for Ukraine, help that comes as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said it was “a pivotal moment” in Kyiv’s fight with Russia.

We’ll detail what’s in the latest package and the United States’ message for other Western nations, plus the new defense spending proposal from House Democrats and more on the White House’s next step with its controversial Saudi meeting.

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Ellen Mitchell. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

Austin warns of ‘pivotal moment’ in Ukraine war

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday said Kyiv faces “a pivotal moment” in its fight with Russia, highlighting recent military aid sent to Ukraine by Western allies while pressing countries to send even more.

Ukraine is currently struggling to keep Russia from laying claim on its easternmost region and industrial heartland, known as the Donbas, and has ramped up its pleas for more Western help with heavy weapons.

“Everyone here is acutely aware of the dangers that Ukraine faces as Russia renews its reckless assault on the Donbas,” Austin said at a news conference in Brussels, after meeting with officials from nearly 50 countries that gathered for the third meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

A new package: The Biden administration on Wednesday announced a new $1 billion security assistance package to Ukraine that will include artillery, coastal defense weapons and ammunition to bolster its military in its nearly four-month war with the Kremlin.

At the news conference, Austin said that the package would include guided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HMARS) munitions, 18 more howitzers, tactical vehicles and 36,000 rounds of 155 mm ammunition.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who spoke with Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier on Wednesday, thanked Washington for the lethal aid but stressed that Ukrainian forces “urgently need more heavy weapons delivered more regularly.”

Austin said other countries have also pledged to send more heavy weapons, including Germany, which is sending three multiple-launch rockets systems; Slovakia, which is giving Kyiv helicopters and rocket ammunition; and Canada, Poland and the Netherlands, all of which are sending more artillery.

Keep it up: While speaking to Western officials earlier, Austin urged nations to not lose steam in supporting Ukraine as it is facing “a pivotal moment on the battlefield.”

Russia has changed tactics and is increasingly using long-range fire to try to overwhelm Ukrainian positions, Austin explained. “So, we must intensify our shared commitment to Ukraine’s self-defense. And we must push ourselves even harder to ensure that Ukraine can defend itself, its citizens and its territory.”

In defense: Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, who spoke alongside Austin, defended the number and type of weapons the U.S. has already sent to Ukraine, arguing that “no singular weapons system ever, quote unquote, turns the balance.”

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House Dems to propose $802B defense policy bill

Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee are expected to propose an $802.4 billion top line for the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a committee aide told to The Hill.

The top line, which was first reported by Bloomberg, includes a $772.5 billion discretionary top line for the Department of Defense, a figure largely in line with what President Biden requested for defense spending.
It also includes $29.5 billion for the Department of Energy and another $400 million for other defense-related activities outside of the Department of Defense.
The top line does not include $11 billion in national defense spending outside of the committee’s jurisdiction and other adjustments, the aide said.

The committee is scheduled to consider the defense bill next week before it heads to the House floor. These numbers are subject to change as the committee amends the bill during the markup process.

What the GOP wants: Republicans have been pushing for defense spending that is between 3 to 5 percent above inflation.

Meanwhile…: The Senate Armed Services Committee was scheduled to markup its version of the NDAA on Wednesday and may continue into Thursday if needed.

The House Appropriations Committee released its proposed defense spending bill on Tuesday, which includes $761.68 billion for the Pentagon. The committee also released a $314 billion military construction and veterans affairs bill — of which $15.1 billion is set aside for military construction projects.

The committee is scheduled to mark up both bills next Wednesday.

White House moves forward with Saudi meeting

The White House is moving forward with a controversial meeting between President Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a dramatic U-turn from the president’s campaign pledge to make the kingdom’s government a “pariah” on the world stage.

Plans for the meeting, slated to occur next month during Biden’s trip to the Middle East, triggered criticism in Washington, where some argued it sent the wrong signal when it comes to human rights abuses and for the killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The White House itself left the meeting out of an official statement making it public on Tuesday, which also mentioned that Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia came at the invitation of Saudi King Salman.
A senior administration official confirmed Monday night that the president would meet with Crown Prince Mohammed while in Saudi Arabia but emphasized that it would take place alongside “dozens” of other Gulf leaders.

More details: Meanwhile, the Saudi Embassy in a statement offered more substantive details about plans for the meeting between Biden and the crown prince, saying the two would hold “official talks” about the bilateral relationship and a range of issues.

Among those issues will be global energy supply. High gas prices exacerbated by sanctions on the Kremlin as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine have vexed the Biden administration, which has turned to countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to boost the global supply in an effort to bring down prices.

Biden and other leaders in the Middle East are also expected to broach Iran, the war in Yemen, and growing relations between Israel and its Gulf and Arab neighbors.

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JAN. 6 PANEL TO FOCUS ON TRUMP PRESSURE CAMPAIGN ON PENCE

The relationship between former President Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence will take center stage at the Jan. 6 committee’s third hearing as it examines the “pressure campaign on Vice President Pence driven by the former president.”

“Tomorrow’s hearing is going to focus on former President Trump’s attempts to pressure former Vice President Pence to unilaterally change the results of the election in the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6,” a select committee aide told reporters.

“Even as advice was swirling around the White House saying that this scheme was illegal, it was totally baseless, the president nevertheless continued publicly to apply pressure on Mike Pence,” the aide added, something that “directly contributed to the attack on the Capitol. And it put the vice president’s life in danger.”

The committee has already shown video of a noose brought to the Capitol that day, and relayed that when Trump was informed about chants to ‘hang Mike Pence,” he reportedly responded, “maybe our supporters have the right idea.”