Biden Admin Moves To Forgive Multi-Billion Dollar Loan To Ukraine

The Biden administration is planning to forgive roughly $4.7 billion that it loaned to Ukraine, the State Department announced on Wednesday, but some lawmakers are moving to stop that from happening.

The Biden administration has flooded Ukraine with billions of dollars since the country’s war with Russia began in 2022. Part of the funds that have been delivered to Ukraine came in the form of a loan, but Biden officials are ready to dismiss the debt, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

“Some of that economic assistance was provided in the form of loans, and we had the option under the bill to cancel that – those loans at our discretion,” Miller said on Wednesday. “So we have taken the step that was outlined in the law to cancel those loans.”

Miller explained that the Biden administration was doing so under congressional approval. Lawmakers in Congress passed a near-$60 billion Ukraine aid package in April including approximately $10 billion in loans, which Kyiv would technically be obligated to pay back. But the bill included a provision that allowed the debt to be forgiven completely by 2026.

President Joe Biden is planning to use the remainder of his term to forgive $4.7 billion of those loans. But Miller noted that Congress could pass a resolution to stonewall Biden officials from forgiving the debt.

Some lawmakers are already attempting to do so. Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie introduced a resolution on Wednesday to block Biden from forgiving the loan, though it will need enough votes in both the House and the Senate to be passed.