The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday approved a $61 billion (57 billion euros) aid package for Ukraine to counter the Russian invasion that began in February 2022.

The package is the result of months of tense negotiations, and has ended up receiving the support of both parliamentary benches and must now be approved in the Senate, where a first vote could take place as early as Tuesday.

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, was quick to react to this 'green light' that was slow in coming, calling it a "historic moment". For Joe Biden, this multi-million dollar amount sends "a clear message about the power of American leadership around the world".

The aid package for Ukraine is the most significant of a set of three laws being voted on in a rare Saturday session, which includes support for Israel and Taiwan, for a total amount of $95 billion (89 billion euros).

Reactions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked for the aid package, saying it "will save thousands and thousands of lives".

"The vital aid law passed today will prevent the war from spreading, will save thousands and thousands of lives and will help our two countries to be stronger", Zelensky wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter), while expressing his "gratitude" to the American parliamentarians and, in particular, to the speaker of the lower house, Republican Mike Johnson.

Despite the fact that for Joe Biden this is a "historic" moment, several nations do not see it that way for the best reasons. The Palestinian presidency reacted to the approval, classifying it as a "aggression against the Palestinian people".

This money could "result in thousands of Palestinian victims in the Gaza Strip" and the West Bank, declared Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemning what he described as a "dangerous escalation".

Moscow has already condemned the situation, saying that  "it will aggravate the world crises". "The allocation of US military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan will aggravate the world crises: military aid to the Kiev regime is direct support for terrorist activities; to Taiwan, interference in China's internal affairs; to Israel, a direct path to an unprecedented worsening of the situation in the region," criticized the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

Next week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China, where he intends to express his concern about Beijing's support for the Russian defense industry. Blinken's visit will be his second in less than a year, reflecting a stabilization of relations between the world's two largest economies.

In relation to China, the package approved by the House was designed to deal with China on a military level, investing in submarines, and helping Taiwan. This package of around eight billion dollars (7.5 billion euros) will now have to be approved by the Senate, like the two mentioned above.

And Portugal? What does it have to say?

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, today welcomed the approval of an aid package for Ukraine in the US House of Representatives, which will allow Kyiv to gain new momentum to deal with the Russian invasion.

In a reaction released on the X network, the head of Portuguese diplomacy stated that "Portugal welcomes the approval, by the United States Congress, of a $61 billion aid package [57 billion euros] to Ukraine", adding: "Together with the European Union, we support Ukraine in defending our common democratic values and principles".

Portugal saúda a aprovação, pelo Congresso dos 🇺🇸, de um pacote de ajuda de 61 mil milhões de dólares à Ucrânia. Juntamente com a 🇪🇺, apoiamos a Ucrânia na defesa dos nossos valores e princípios democráticos comuns.

— Negócios Estrangeiros PT (@nestrangeiro_pt) April 20, 2024

 Read Also: US aid to Ukraine "will save thousands and thousands of lives" (Portuguese version)