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War in Ukraine

Why Ukraine’s Lend-Lease Act Was Left on the Shelf

Why Ukraine’s Lend-Lease Act Was Left on the Shelf

In May 2022, just over two months into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, US President Joe Biden signed the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act into law. This legislation, modeled after the historic World War II-era program, promised to cut red tape and streamline the much-needed delivery of military aid to Ukraine.

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Daniel Kosoy
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Ukraine’s Lend-Lease program passed the House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support, 417 votes in favor and only 10 against, at a time of strong bipartisan US support for Ukraine's defense against Russian aggression.

The act echoed Franklin D. Roosevelt’s original 1941 Lend-Lease program, which armed Allied powers like the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, ultimately helping to defeat Nazi Germany. During World War II, Lend-Lease provided over $50 billion (nearly $700 billion today) in supplies, fueling Allied victories while revitalizing the US economy.

U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 9, 2022. (Source: Getty Images)
U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 9, 2022. (Source: Getty Images)

Bureaucratic death 

The 2022 version was meant to provide the same support by giving President Biden the authority to send weapons to Ukraine without requiring immediate Congressional action for every transfer. Yet, despite its promise, the Ukraine Lend-Lease Act was never used and quietly expired on September 30, 2023. 

On December 12, 2024, the House of Representatives passed the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a sprawling $895 billion bill outlining US military funding and national security policies.

Amid the 1,197 pages of the NDAA, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act was absent. The program, which required yearly Congressional renewal, was neither extended nor acknowledged. 

Instead, the NDAA focuses on other measures to support Ukraine, including continued bans on recognizing Russian sovereignty over occupied territories, investments in advanced defense technologies such as public-private artificial intelligence partnerships, and requirements for classified reporting on Russian financing of terrorism. 

US and Ukraine flags waive near Capitol Hill on February 11, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Source: Getty Images)
US and Ukraine flags waive near Capitol Hill on February 11, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Source: Getty Images)

Why lend-lease was never used

The Biden administration deprioritized Lend-Lease in favor of more flexible and faster aid tools. These programs allowed the US to provide Ukraine with immediate and debt-free assistance, better aligned with the country’s financial and military realities. 

A White House official explained the reasoning to Voice of America saying: “Right now, we are prioritizing security assistance for Ukraine, for which they will not have to pay back the funds later.”

Instead, the administration relied on three primary aid mechanisms:

  • Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA): This mechanism enables the President to transfer weapons and equipment directly from US military stockpiles to Ukraine, bypassing the lengthy procurement process. PDA has been a cornerstone of US aid, ensuring rapid delivery of essential materials to the battlefield.

  • Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI): Focused on long-term support, USAI funds the procurement of weapons, training, and infrastructure tailored to Ukraine’s needs. Unlike PDA, which is immediate, USAI is more strategic and requires Congressional approval.

  • Foreign Military Financing (FMF): This program provides grants and loans to Ukraine to purchase US-made defense equipment, bolstering its military capabilities while strengthening US-Ukraine defense ties.

Together, these mechanisms delivered $46.6 billion in munitions, weapons, and military aid to Ukraine during the 2022-23 fiscal year. This grant-based approach spared Ukraine from the burden of taking on debt, ensuring aid was unrestricted by its financial capacity to repay.

As Oleh Nikolenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, noted in an interview with Hromadske, “The disadvantage [of Lend-Lease] is that the volume of American weapons supplied depends on Ukraine’s financial capabilities,” making grant-based aid a far more practical solution.

Ukrainians from the diaspora demonstrated in front of the Belgium-based financial services company Euroclear to advocate for Western nations to seize the frozen assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on April 11, 2024, in Brussels, Belgium. (Source: Getty Images)
Ukrainians from the diaspora demonstrated in front of the Belgium-based financial services company Euroclear to advocate for Western nations to seize the frozen assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on April 11, 2024, in Brussels, Belgium. (Source: Getty Images)

The future of US aid to Ukraine

As Lend-Lease fades, the bipartisan Stand with Ukraine Act steps in, simplifying aid delivery, tailoring military support to Ukraine’s needs, and proposing the use of frozen Russian assets to fund assistance.

The Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) Loans expand on the increasingly popular concept of using interest from frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine. The US has already implemented this, transferring $20 billion to Ukraine through the World Bank.

Ukraine’s version of lend-lease had a lot of symbolic value to both Ukrainians and Americans respectively. Still, with the existence of modern funding mechanisms, the prospect of Ukraine exiting the war debt-free seems much more desirable.  

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