US President Joe Biden has signed into law $60.64 billion in military aid to Ukraine, the White House announced.
“This is a good day for America, a good day for Europeans, a good day for the world – and that matters. I signed a national security bill that passed the House and was approved by the Senate yesterday that will make America and the world safer and America’s leadership in the world will continue,” the president said.
Biden also signed a bill for military aid to Taiwan and Israel.
As noted by Mark Warner, head of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, the first deliveries of military aid to Ukraine could begin as early as this week. Among other things, the new tranche will include ATACMS missiles capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 300 km.
Last night, the US Senate approved by a vote of 79-18 the legislative package for military aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
“This vote reinforces America’s role as a guiding light of democracy and a leader of the free world,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in Telegram.
“This national security bill is one of the most important measures Congress has passed in a very long time to protect American security and the security of Western democracy,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said after the vote.
Chuck Schumer said he texted Zelensky Tuesday night: “Okay, we did it. Now go win the battle’.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, a strong advocate of aid to Ukraine, lamented the delay, largely over the objections of hardline Republicans.
“I think we have addressed the isolationist movement,” McConnell said at a news conference.
The US is providing $61 billion in critically needed funding for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones around the world, and the third funding package provides $8.1 billion for “countering Communist China” in the Indo-Pacific region.
The fourth bill includes a potential ban on Chinese-controlled social media app TikTok, measures to transfer seized Russian assets to Ukraine and new sanctions against Iran.
The Biden administration is already preparing a $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine. It includes vehicles, Stinger air defense munitions, additional munitions for highly mobile artillery rocket systems, 155 mm artillery ammunition, TOW and Javelin anti-tank munitions, and other weapons that can be immediately deployed on the battlefield.
The weapons, which the Ukrainians desperately need, will immediately leave Poland, Germany and other places in Europe, and by Saturday the first deliveries will be at the front, experts say.
“Thank you to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for their strong leadership in moving this bipartisan legislation forward, as well as to all U.S. senators from both sides of the aisle who voted in favor of it,” Zelensky said minutes after its passage. of the bill.
The US and EU are Ukraine’s main military backers in its war against Russia, but the new US aid package, which includes vital military supplies, has been stalled for months by Congress in Washington.
“I equally appreciate President Biden’s support and expect the bill to be signed soon and the next military aid package to match the determination I always find in our negotiations,” Zelensky added.
“Ukraine’s long-range capabilities, artillery and air defense are extremely important tools for the faster establishment of a just peace,” the Ukrainian president wrote.
Ukraine’s army faces an acute shortage of weapons and new soldiers, while Moscow’s forces exert constant pressure from the east.
