“I just signed the national security package that was passed by the House this weekend and passed by the Senate yesterday,” Mr. Biden said, adding that he “ensures that shipments begin immediately, within the next few hours.”
95 billion The $89.1 billion (€89.1 billion) package, which also includes aid to Israel and Taiwan and a measure that could ban the app TikTok in the US, comes after months of delays as Ukrainian forces ran out of ammunition and suffered battlefield setbacks .
The US Senate late on Tuesday approved nearly 61 billion US dollars (57.3 billion euros) aid package for Ukraine, which has been fighting a large-scale Russian invasion for more than two years.
This comes days after the US House of Representatives passed four bills totaling $95 billion. dollars worth of bills.
“America will be safer, the world will be safer, and America will continue to lead the world, and everybody knows it,” Biden said of the legislation. “This is vital support for America’s partners to protect against threats to their sovereignty and the lives and liberties of their citizens.”
The Pentagon quickly announced a $1 billion dollar package (935.8 million euros) for Kyiv, which includes air defense ammunition, artillery shells, ammunition for precision missile launchers HIMARS, anti-tank weapons and armored vehicles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his colleague Mr. Biden for approving new military support.
“The six-month journey was completed. No matter what anyone says, we are receiving the necessary support – we need it to continue protecting lives from Russian attacks, V. Zelensky wrote on social networks. “We will do everything we can to make up for the six months that have passed in debate and doubt.”
The House of Representatives passed the aid legislation only after months of heated debate among lawmakers over how and whether at all to help Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February 2022, defend itself.
In February, a similar support package passed the Senate but stalled in the House, with Republican Speaker Mike Johnson demanding concessions from Mr. Biden on immigration, following calls from former President Donald Trump and his hard-line allies. politics until he suddenly changed his mind.
The United States is one of Ukraine’s main military backers, but Congress has not approved large-scale funding for Kyiv in nearly a year and a half.
Due to constant pressure from Moscow from the east, the Ukrainian army is severely short of weapons and soldiers, and the situation on the front is expected to deteriorate further in the coming weeks.
Another provision of the signed legislation would ban the popular social networking app TikTok unless it cuts ties with its Chinese parent company.
