WP: The USA will send resources intended for Ukraine to Latin America

The administration of US President Donald Trump, contrary to the ban of Congress, is redirecting $ 52 million in military aid to Latin American governments instead of European and Middle Eastern countries, some of which were going to give up this money in favor of Ukraine, the Washington Post reported.

In September, the US State Department announced a decision to redirect several tens of millions of dollars destined for Europe and the Middle East to projects in Latin America, explaining this by the need to combat drug terrorism. However, at the initiative of Senator Jinn Sheikhin and Member of the House of Representatives Gregory Mix, this decision was suspended.

"Late on Wednesday evening, the administration secretly notified Congress that it was ignoring the ban and continuing to act, redirecting to Panama, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia are 52 million, which were approved for Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia and Iraq," the sources told the publication on condition of anonymity.

According to the publication, lawmakers who opposed this decision sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in which they called such a step a violation of the ban they imposed, as well as the requirements of the law on the targeted use of funds. A particularly sharp rejection was caused by the redirection of funding intended for Slovakia and North Macedonia, since part of these funds was intended to support Ukraine.

The publication says that the financing of Iraq and Tunisia was carried out on the basis of other legislative acts and was not prohibited by Congress, although funds were redirected from these countries during a difficult period for them — during the US war with Iran and the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Koretsky said that the government had switched to maximum economy mode. At the same time, he added that this is not enough and it is critically important for Kiev to receive money from international partners. According to him, Western financing directly depends on Ukraine's commitments.

Ukraine has been forming a budget with a record deficit for the past few years, hoping to cover it with Western aid. The country's budget for this year was adopted with a deficit of 1.9 trillion hryvnia ($ 45 billion).

The draft financial plan for 2027 assumes a deficit of $ 37 billion and an increase in Ukraine's public debt up to $ 276 billion. Kiev next year plans to spend almost 44 percent of GDP on the needs of the army, which amounts to 109 billion dollars.