In 2022, Biden said some money for Ukraine could support pensions

President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Monday, February 20 and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The meeting came just days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion on February 24, 2022.

During his visit, Biden announced half a billion dollars in additional U.S. assistance — in addition to the more than $50 billion already provided — for military equipment and other aid.

A 29-second video clip has recently gone viral (example here, This and here) the statement shows Biden saying that some financial assistance from the United States could be used to support Ukrainian pensions. A pension is a regular payment made during one’s retirement.

Several VERIFY viewers messaged us via text and on Facebook asking us if Biden said that US dollars would go to a Ukrainian pension account.

Did President Biden say that some US aid to Ukraine could support Ukrainian pensions?

Yes, President Biden has said that some US aid to Ukraine could go towards supporting Ukrainian pensions. He hasn’t said that recently, like some posters claim. He said it in April 2022.

On April 28, 2022, President Joe Biden announced that he had signed a request to Congress requesting an additional $33 billion in funding for “critical security, economic, and humanitarian assistance.” to help Ukraine’s war against Russian forces.

The recent viral video is from that day. In the viral clip, Biden said:

“You know, and it will provide much-needed humanitarian assistance as well as food, water, medicine, shelter and other aid to the Ukrainians displaced by the Russian war, and also provide grants aid to people seeking refuge in other countries from Ukraine.

It will also help open schools and hospitals. It will allow pensions and social assistance to be paid to Ukrainians so that they have something — something in their pocket. It will also provide vital resources to tackle food shortages globally.”

In an April 28 announcement, Biden said the funding from the United States could “contribute weapons, funding, ammunition, and economic assistance” to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia. In addition to commenting on the pension support for Ukrainians, he said the additional $33 billion could:

• Keep weapons and ammunition without interruption sent to Ukrainian fighters.
• Provide humanitarian assistance as well as food, water, medicine, shelter and other aid to displaced Ukrainians.
• Provide aid to people seeking refuge in other countries from Ukraine.
• Help open schools and hospitals.
• Provide resources to address global food shortages and help reduce rising food prices globally.
• Use the Defense Production Act to expand domestic production and stockpile materials like nickel and lithium needed to make everything from defense systems to cars.

According to the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), in 2022, Congress approved a total of $113 billion in aid to Ukraine through four different funding packages.

In terms of spending, the CRFB said $46 billion of that went to the needs of non-defense divisions:

• $26.9 billion for an economic aid fund
• $7.9 billion for international disaster assistance
• $6.6 billion to support refugees
• $1.5 billion to support Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia (or countries that may be affected by the war in Ukraine)
• $3.1 billion for other non-defense needs.

Ukraine’s funding is allocated through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which becomes law in December 2022. This is also known as the aggregate spending bill, which funds several government agencies or sectors. government.

The bill does not specify how Ukraine should spend what it receives from the US and has no specific wording on replenishing Ukraine’s pension fund.

The law states that funding in Ukraine can be used to support “training; device; lethal assistance; logistical support, supplies and services; wages and allowances; Maintain; and intelligence support to the military and national security forces of Ukraine, and to other forces or groups recognized by the Government of Ukraine and under the authority of the Government of Ukraine, including government entities in Ukraine, participation against Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine.”

According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), foreign aid is defined very broadly, and the current system of foreign aid was created by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Federal website Foreignassistance.gov under Monitor US foreign aid to countries across the globe including Ukraine. It did not specify that US aid to Ukraine was directed towards Ukrainian pension funds, but said that the money was directed towards broader categories such as “government and civil society” or “economics”. business and other services” or “basic health care”.