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Transcript/ScriptUkraine Funding (TV)
HEADLINE: US Funding May Dry Up Despite NATO's Support for Ukraine
TEASER: Partisan gridlock in Congress and a sticking point of border security may jeopardize funding for Ukraine, which administration officials say could run out by year’s end
PUBLISHED: 12/03/2023 at 2:23 pm
BYLINE: Arash Arabasadi
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: REUTERS/ STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE/ AP
SCRIPT EDITORS: Page; caw
VIDEO SOURCE (S): REUTERS/ STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE/ AP
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __
TRT: 3:01
VID APPROVED BY: mia
TYPE: TVPKG
UPDATE: ))
((INTRO))
[[ U.S. funding for Ukraine may soon come to an end. A divided Congress has so far failed to approve a long-term budget for the United States government, let alone new money for aiding allies mired in conflicts abroad. The country’s top defense official says that’s a mistake. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. ]]
((mandatory cg Kherson Regional State Administration))
((NARRATOR))
Sunday in Kherson, Ukraine. Officials report one fatality and seven injuries after Russian shelling in the region.
((mandatory cg State Emergency Service of Ukraine))
((NARRATOR))
Just days earlier in the Donetsk region, at least 10 injuries and one fatality in a six-missile attack were reported. Ukraine’s interior minister said Russian forces fired into the territory.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine appears headed into a third year. Ukraine’s government continues pressing allies for financial and material support, but in the United States, that may soon come to an end.
Congress has yet to appropriate a long-term measure to fund the federal government, instead passing a short-term measure called a continuing resolution lasting just into the new year.
Top military brass say that jeopardizes national security while urging Congress to pass a full year financial appropriation.
[RADIO TRACK: United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaking on U.S. Network Pool as provided by The Associated Press]
((Lloyd Austin, US Defense Secretary))
“That’s the single best thing that Congress can do to strengthen our national defense. You know, our competitors don’t have to operate under continuing resolutions, and so, doing so erodes both our security and our ability to compete. And I also urge you to pass our urgent supplemental budget request to help fund our national security needs, to stand by our partners in danger, and to invest in our defense industrial base.”
((NARRATOR))
Failure to pass a long-term spending plan may have serious implications for continued wartime support for both Ukraine and Israel -- a fact not lost on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
((NARRATOR))
In a recent interview, Zelenskyy said Ukraine must not allow the world to forget that, like Israel, his country is fighting for its survival, and doing so before a winter phase of combat sets in.
((NARRATOR))
At the ongoing U.N. Climate Conference, or COP28, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the clear message from NATO allies was continued support for Ukraine.
[RADIO TRACK: Stoltenberg speaking with The Associated Press]
((Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General))
“So, it would be a big tragedy for the Ukrainians if (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin wins. But it will be dangerous also for us, because the message that he and other authoritarian leaders then will get is that when they use military force, when they invade another country, (and) when they violate international law, they get what they want.”
((NARRATOR))
The comment comes amid the extended detention of Russian American reporter Alsu Kurmasheva ((Al-soo Koormasheeva)). She is a Prague-based journalist working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which – like Voice of America – receives its funding from the U.S. Congress.
Russia has charged her with failing to register as a “foreign agent,” a throwback to Cold War-era espionage.
((NARRATOR))
Back in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, police bring residents small stoves donated by the Netherlands. In a mostly elderly community that has refused to leave despite no electricity, gas or water, these stoves could be the lifelines for cooking and warmth as another winter at war sets in.
((Arash Arabasadi, VOA News))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
in Washington D. C.
Embargo DateDecember 3, 2023 17:57 EST
Byline
Arash Arabasadi, VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
