September 6, 2024

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden

President of the United States of America

White House 

Re: Restrictions on Ukraine’s Ability to Fight Back; 

September 30, 2024, deadline for Presidential Drawdown of Funds to Support Ukraine; Disposition of Large Amounts of Undelivered Promised Support

Dear Mr. President:

We greatly appreciate all the support you have authorized / appropriated / allocated for Ukraine during  your Presidential term. We write today, respectfully, to suggest that you cap off your legacy of being  Ukraine’s staunchest defender by taking three executive actions before leaving office:

1. Immediately remove all restrictions on Ukraine’s ability to defend itself by striking deeply at Russian  strategic and military targets.

2. By September 30, 2024, draw down all congressionally appropriated funds so that they are allocated  and their designation unalterable by the end of your term.

3. By September 30, 2024, schedule actual delivery to Ukraine of all promised armaments and  equipment for arrival before winter sets in. Please let your Administration advise what has not been delivered.

Russia is perpetrating actual genocide in Ukraine, attacking its civilian population. Unable to defeat the  Ukrainian army, Russia has resorted in its desperation to deliberately killing Ukraine’s children, women,  and the elderly. In the past week alone, Russia has attacked civilian objects and apartment buildings in  Kharkiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Poltava, and Lviv.

All of this could have been prevented if Ukraine were empowered by the West to stop these cowardly  attacks. However, American restrictions continue to impede Ukraine’s ability to hit the military sources of  these cross-border attacks. The Western world expects Ukraine to accept strict limits upon its self-defense  against an enemy that respects no limits at all.

It is disappointing that so few ammunition packages promised by Washington have been delivered. Ukrainian partners relate that some equipment promised last year will only be delivered in 2027, despite the calculations, promises, and announcements that made headlines in 2023. And, as you know, Putin has  reliable friends. North Koreans and Iranians can resupply Russia with what they promised.

Whether it be a Harris or Trump administration on January 20, 2025, any unallocated funds may be  subject to delay, new scrutiny, and perhaps even outright dismissal on the first day. Moreover, armaments  stuck in a pipeline may not be the highest priority for a new president taking charge of this country after a  possibly contentious election. We beseech you, as President of the United States of America, to assure that  Ukraine gets the support that Congress appropriated for it, as expeditiously as possible. No one wants  more Ukrainian lives to be lost due to an unforced error on the part of the U.S.

Respectfully,

Central and East European Coalition

Alianta • American Hungarian Federation • American Latvian Association • Armenian Assembly of America • Belarusian-American  Association • Washington Chapter Czechoslovak National Council of America • Estonian American National Council • Georgian  Association in the USA • Hungarian American Coalition • Joint Baltic American National Committee • Lithuanian American Council •  Lithuanian American Community • National Federation of Croatian Americans Cultural Foundation • Polish American Congress •  Slovak League of America • Ukrainian Congress Committee of America • Ukrainian National Association

ceecadvocacy.org * ceecoalition@gmail.com * Polish American Congress, 1612 K Street NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20006