Ukraine needs all aid programs from U.S. to defend itself against Russian attacks - Markarova

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova said this on the CBS news channel's "Face the Nation" program, Ukrinform reports.

"It's great that we have prepared thanks to the big support from the U.S. and you see already all these attacks on Kyiv, on other places in Ukraine. They're very similar to last year, but this year, they were not able to cause blackouts for a long time and that's all because we together work so much and because the American people helped us to prepare for this. And it's so much cheaper to prevent it rather than to repair it," she said.

However, according to Markarova, there are no funds left in the U.S. budget for humanitarian, financial, and energy support to Ukraine. The ambassador said that Ukraine needs all aid programs from the United States.

"The U.S. was buying from American producers here in the U.S., like drones and rockets and interceptors for the air defense and I can go on and on and you cannot take it using the [presidential] drawdown [authority]. You need to go to the industrial base in order for them to produce it," she said.

Markarova added that all the eyes are now on Congress and Ukraine hopes that U.S. legislators will be able to find a solution.

"I understand the importance of the local priorities, and I understand how important the border discussions are. We can just only pray and hope that there will be resolve there, and that the deal that they will be able to reach will allow the fast decisions also on the support to Ukraine," the ambassador said.