WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has released $250 million in military aid to Ukraine that had been held up despite criticism that the money was desperately needed to deter Russian aggression and territorial expansion.

That move came before a Senate Appropriations panel debate Thursday, when lawmakers from both parties were set to rebuke the administration. They credited an amendment threatened by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., for forcing the administration's hand on the money, which Congress already had approved.

Several Republican senators, including Trump ally Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said they would have voted with Democrats. Added Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.: "We support Ukraine. Period. End of discussion."

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As CBS News has reported, the administration had been reviewing military spending for Ukraine.

"The president has made no secret when it comes to foreign assistance that U.S. interests abroad should be prioritized and other foreign countries should also be paying their fair share," a senior administration official told CBS News last month.

Relations between Ukraine and Russia nosedived in 2014 after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and threw its weight behind separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine.

Committee members announced the administration's move during debate on a $695 billion Pentagon funding bill.