US President Biden signed foreign aid, including $61 billion for Ukraine, after congressional approval.
“This budget package provides important support for America’s partners so they can protect themselves from threats to their sovereignty,” US President Joe Biden said on April 24 after signing passed the foreign aid bill. “We guarantee aid shipments to Ukraine will begin within the next few hours.”
Mr. Biden described the Ukrainian army as “a battle-hardened force with a persistent will to win”, and criticized Republicans loyal to former president Donald Trump for blocking the aid package.
According to President Biden, the approval of this spending package is also directly related to US interests. “The bill will make America safer, make the world better and maintain America’s leadership role in the world,” he said.
US President Joe Biden spoke at the White House on February 8. Image: AFP
The spending bill provides $60.84 billion in military support for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel, and $8.12 billion for allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
In the aid package for Ukraine, about 23 billion USD will be used by the US to replenish its weapons stockpile, creating conditions to continue transferring weapons to Ukraine. $14 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, allowing the Pentagon to directly purchase weapons from American contractors and deliver them to Kiev.
11 billion USD will be spent to finance current US military operations in the region. About $8 billion is for non-military assistance, helping the Ukrainian government maintain basic operations such as paying salaries and pensions.
Mr. Biden also signed into law a separate law related to a ban on TikTok in the US if the owner of this application, Chinese technology company ByteDance, does not divest its capital within the next 9 months to a year.
Previous bills have been passed by the US House of Representatives and Senate. This may be the last round of aid to Ukraine before the US holds presidential and congressional elections in November.
The United States has been the main military support country for Ukraine since the outbreak of war. The new support package was approved when the Ukrainian army is facing a serious shortage of weapons and Russian forces are constantly applying pressure from the east.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that the nearly $61 billion in aid would strengthen Ukraine and “send to Russia a strong signal that this will not be the second Afghanistan.”
The Kremlin declared that the US aid package would not change the situation on the battlefield, emphasizing that this would only cause more suffering for Ukraine and cause more deaths.
German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz today said Europe must continue to increase aid to Ukraine, even after a large US aid package is approved. However, he also emphasized that Germany resolutely refuses to send Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Huyen Le (According to AFP, AP, Reuters)
