The United States will provide Ukraine with military assistance through Lend-Lease: the last time this was done for the USSR during World War II

The US authorities are preparing to adopt a law on the lend-lease of military weapons for Ukraine. The last time a similar procedure operated during the Second World War. Now it can become an important factor in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Will this help Ukraine win the war? with the BBC.

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Even before the start of a full-scale war on February 24, the United States was already supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine.

But when it began, the volume of military supplies increased significantly and reached $3,7 billion. Partners give Ukraine not only weapons and equipment, but also money to buy other weapons.

“We believe that the Ukrainians can win if they have the right equipment, the right support,” said the head of the US Department of Defense, Lloyd Austin.

But the law on lend-lease for Ukraine can significantly increase this military assistance. The US Senate unanimously supported it on April 6. And already on April 27, the procedural committee decided the further fate of the document. But it will enter into force if it is supported by the House of Representatives, and then signed by US President Joe Biden.

This is not the first time the US has taken such a step. During the Second World War, the United States, in fact, helped defeat Nazi Germany with the same law.

Timely help

The law on the provision of material assistance to European allies in the United States was adopted in March 1941, when the war on the continent had already lasted for almost a year and a half. But that was 9 months before the United States formally entered the hot phase of the war after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The initiated lend lease procedure, that is, literally “transfer for rent or on credit,” assumed that Washington quickly transfers military and civilian equipment, weapons, equipment, ammunition and other property to countries whose defense is “vital” for the United States.

These countries first included Britain and China, and then France and the USSR.

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The Soviet Union signed the first agreement on American assistance only in October 1941, when Soviet troops had been defeated by Nazi Germany for half a year, retreated to the east and lost thousands of pieces of equipment, millions of soldiers.

Full agreements on the supply of weapons, equipment and other property of the parties were normalized only in June 1942.

Then the USSR and the USA signed an “Agreement on the Principles of Mutual Assistance in the Waging of War against Aggression”. The USSR undertook to return after the war those defensive materials that would not be lost or lost and that the US would need.

The agreement was received in the Soviet Union with great enthusiasm.

“The will of the great powers is aimed at establishing a strong peace after the defeat of the enemy and protecting humanity from the possibility of a repetition of predatory wars. The Soviet Union and the United States are determined to build their post-war relations on the already established basis of close friendly cooperation, ”the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, which was considered the official mouthpiece of the USSR Ministry of Defense, reported on the agreements.

But everything happened quite differently. After the war, the paths of the former allies quickly diverged, and questions of the importance of American lend-lease began to be publicly devalued by the leaders of the Union.

Soviet figures began to say that US aid was "insignificant" and had no effect on the war effort.

Home support

Dry statistics look like this: during the four years of the war, the United States supplied almost $50 billion worth of goods and weapons to the allies, which at the current rate is about $700 billion. Great Britain received the most - $31,4 billion, in second place was the Soviet Union - $11,4 billion.

It should be noted that their own weapons, as well as tanks and aircraft, made up a smaller part of all the property that Washington transferred to Moscow.

Basically, cars, radio stations, machine tools, wagons and steam locomotives, oil products, steel sheets, gunpowder, food products and other goods went under Lend-Lease. They were delivered from the USA by sea.

This product allowed the USSR to maintain the pace of production of its own weapons and equipment, it led to victory. For example, American wagons and fuel made it possible to deliver reinforcements and weapons to the front. Materials and machine tools were used in the manufacture of military equipment, long-term storage products solved the problems with food shortages among Soviet soldiers and civilians.

According to preliminary agreements, the Soviet Union must pay part of the property to the supplier. But he was not satisfied with the $2,7 billion bill presented by the American government after the war.

During the long and difficult negotiations between the countries during the Cold War, this amount fell to $720 million. The Russian Federation finally repaid the debt in 2006.

New-old program

The new war in Europe has shown the relevance of the old instruments of assistance. In fact, procedures similar to the American Lend-Lease, namely the gratuitous transfer of weapons and equipment to Ukraine, have already been introduced by many European countries, as well as Canada, Japan and Australia.

In the United States, it was decided that it was the Ukrainian Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act that could bring these processes to a qualitatively new level. He was publicly supported by lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties.

The text of the document refers to granting the US President expanded powers to transfer or lease defense products to Ukraine to “protect the civilian population from Russian military invasion” and for other purposes.

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The document also notes that any loan or lease of defense products by the government of Ukraine will have conditions for the return, reimbursement and repayment of the loan or lease. After the adoption of the act, the head of the White House is obliged within 60 days to establish accelerated procedures for the delivery of products.

The Ukrainian side reacted positively to this draft and stated that it expects it to be adopted as soon as possible.

“If the lend-lease law is approved, it will significantly speed up the supply of weapons, transport, food and other assistance for rent or free of charge from the United States to Ukraine,” said Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office.

According to him, the US Department of Defense has created a control center to coordinate deliveries and optimize the delivery of military assistance to Ukraine in Germany, in the area of ​​responsibility of the European Command of the US Armed Forces.

Green light

Former Ukrainian Ambassador to Washington Valery Chaly has no doubts that Lend-Lease will be launched. According to him, it will have an important historical significance.

“Russian aggression, which is aimed primarily at the destruction of Ukraine, is finally perceived as an existential threat to European and world security,” he said.

Chaly draws attention to the fact that the law on Lend-Lease testifies to the US confidence in the victory of Ukraine. Indeed, if we draw historical parallels, then the volume of military supplies from America to the Soviet Union increased significantly precisely after the turning point in the war in 1943, when the Germans failed and began to retreat.

Alena Getmanchuk, director of the New Europe think tank, also notes that the lend-lease procedure will greatly simplify and speed up the provision of weapons to Ukraine. But she is convinced that in the given conditions it is more symbolic than a practical gesture.

“After the United States gave the green light for the supply of heavy weapons a couple of weeks ago and really got actively involved in this process, such a bill is no longer so critical, but serves as an important signal of both faith and trust – faith in the victory of Ukraine and trust in the Ukrainian military-political leadership,” she explained.

At the same time, Getmanchuk emphasized that only President Biden would have the last word on this issue. Since 2014, his position on the supply of weapons to Ukraine has been transformed in a positive direction for Kyiv, said the director of the New Europe analytical center.

“However, it is still not positive enough to provide Ukraine with such positions as, say, fighters,” the analyst said.

So far, it is Kyiv's persistent requests for the provision of combat aviation that remain without a positive response from the allies. The Lend-Lease Act provides good reasons to move this issue forward.

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