Ustinova, the chairwoman of the parliamentary commission on arms control and advisor to the minister of defense of Ukraine, is in Washington this week to meet with key U.S. officials.
Ustinova said she will meet with more lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week to inform them about issues with U.S. security aid.
The biggest issue, according to Ustinova, is that only 30 percent of the weapons announced from a $61 billion package approved by Congress over the spring has made it into Ukraine.
"We're pushing to use all of this money because they have been allocated for Ukraine," she said. "I'm asking lawmakers to push the executive branch to move faster."
There may be some urgency to the effort: President-elect Trump is coming into office in a little over five weeks, and he has vowed to end the war by negotiating with Ukraine and Russia.
Many Ukrainians and allies want Ukraine to be in the strongest possible position for those talks.
Ustinova is also meeting with State Department and Pentagon officials, and she said a key priority is the Black Hawks because of their machine gun capabilities.
"We need the helicopters to put those down," she said. "This is the easiest and the cheapest way to put the drone down, is to shoot it down from the helicopter."
Air defenses can be expensive, said Ustinova, who noted the number of Russian drone attacks have increased and that "a lot of civilians die" in the attacks striking residential buildings.
The Biden administration has slowly trickled out more advanced weapons systems to Ukraine, concerned about escalation.
But after F-16s, Abrams tanks and long-range missiles, Black Hawks, of which the U.S. has more than 2,000, are likely not the most escalatory in the war.
"We've heard the excuse that it's not a priority, and which surprised me, because we have an official letter of request from the Minister of Defense," she said. "The other excuse was, Ukrainians do not have a roadmap how to implement it.
"And honestly, it's a bit weird, because you just need to train the pilots, and we have some of the pilots trained because we already fly one. I see this more of an excuse than an argument."
Black Hawks, which can seat up to 11 personnel, were first introduced in the 1970s and are now the main medium-lift transport and air assault aircraft.
They are often fitted with 7.62mm or .50 caliber machine guns, and can also fire Hellfire missiles or Stinger anti-air missiles.
Ustinova was more tightlipped about her plans with the Trump transition team.
But she did talk about how she views any potential negotiations with Russia, as Trump has vowed to end the war once he takes office.
Ustinova said that if Kyiv were to consider giving up territories in eastern Ukraine, it was vital for the nation to have legitimate security guarantees, though she said she wants more details on any proposal.
For Ustinova, her priority is securing enough weapons for Ukraine to ensure it can enter the talks strong.
"It is really difficult to negotiate," she said, "when you are in a very, very weak position."
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