White House will continue to "surge" aid to Ukraine

• He has also long critiqued the international alliance, even going as far as to say he'd "encourage" Russia to do "whatever the hell they want" to member nations who don't meet defense spending obligations.
• Nevertheless, the newly elected president has claimed he'll bring peace to Ukraine.

Driving the news: "We've been surging that aid for some time," Jean-Pierre noted, pointing to President Biden's Sept. 26 security assistance announcement that remaining funds for Ukraine would be allocated by the end of his term.

• Aid to the embattled nation has in the past been repeatedly entangled in laddered stopgap packages from Congress to keep the government open.
• Jean-Pierre said the administration's commitment to "surge" aid to Ukraine includes steps to strengthen the country's air defenses.

Zoom out: "There is an administration change that's going to happen in January, but support for Ukraine remains strong," Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Thursday, noting continued assistance to Ukraine has bicameral, bipartisan backing.

• She noted the administration still can supply around $2 billion through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and some $4 billion through the previously committed Presidential Drawdown Authority.

• "You're going to continue to see packages roll out in the coming weeks before the end of this administration," Singh noted.

The bottom line: The U.S. has allocated tens of billions of dollars in humanitarian, military and economic aid to Ukraine — a vital supply that could soon be lost with a second Trump presidency and the possibility of a GOP-controlled Congress.

• The war, now in its third year, saw a recent escalation with the arrival of North Korean soldiers after the two nations signed a mutual defense partnership in June.
• Some 10,000 North Korean troops are in Kursk region.

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