The United States Senate approves a new military aid package for Ukraine
The US Senate has approved, after months of blockage, a new military aid package of 61 billion dollars (57 billion euros), which could be sent to Kiev this week.
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Mundo Guerra na Ucrânia
U.S. President Joe Biden said the U.S. would “begin delivering weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week,” according to a statement released after the vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
“I will sign this bill into law and address the American people when it gets to my desk,” the Democrat said.
“A bipartisan majority in the Senate has joined the House [of Representatives, the lower chamber with a Republican majority] in answering history’s call at this critical inflection point,” Biden said.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “grateful to the United States Senate for approving … vital assistance to Ukraine.”
“Long-range capabilities, artillery, and air defense are essential tools for Ukraine to restore a just peace faster,” Zelensky said in a social media post.
The package includes the delivery of munitions, including air defense and artillery ammunition, that Ukrainian forces have been pleading for, as well as armored vehicles and other weaponry.
Last week, CIA Director Bill Burns argued that Ukraine could lose the war if Kyiv does not receive military aid by the end of the year.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also told members of the House of Representatives that conditions on the battlefield were changing and that Russian forces were making significant gains on the front lines.
The vote followed weeks of high-stakes drama between Republicans and Democrats and even within the Republican Party, where a radical faction aligned with former President Donald Trump has threatened to try to oust House Republican leader Mike Johnson, accusing him of being in cahoots with the White House.
Since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, the U.S. has sent more than $44 billion in weapons, maintenance, training and spare parts to Ukraine.
For much of that time, aid packages have been transferred within a matter of weeks, but the money began to run out last September.
In mid-December, the Pentagon said it had run out of money for aid to Kyiv and had to stop sending weapons because it lacked the authority from Congress to continue the support.
Read Also: Ukraine allocates another 190 million for the construction of war fortifications (Portuguese version)
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