US President Joe Biden could veto a budget bill that does not include funds to help Ukraine.
In the United States, political bargaining over Ukraine funding continues. Summary of previous episodes: The White House has asked Congress for more than $105 billion in additional budget support, of which $61.4 billion will be allocated for Kyiv. Funds earmarked for Israel, Ukraine and the Mexican border have been combined into one project. But on Monday, Republicans in the US House of Representatives introduced a bill that would provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, which is separate from Ukraine. Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, said last week that he wants aid to Israel and Ukraine to be considered separately in the House. According to him, the aid given to Kyiv should be considered more carefully.
And now, the path for Biden’s funding plan looks uncertain.
One or two packages
The Republican leader of the US Senate Mitch McConnell advocated aid to Ukraine and Israel in one package, despite the fact that the House of Representatives is pushing for separate bills. Newly elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, is expected to propose a bill this week that would only include aid to Israel. At the same time, Mitch McConnell supports the inclusion of aid to Ukraine.
“This is the moment for swift and decisive action to prevent further casualties and create real consequences for the tyrants who terrorize the people of Ukraine and Israel. At this time, the Senate has the opportunity to provide additional support that will help achieve these goals,” McConnell said.
According to him, the aggression against Ukraine and Israel is interconnected, because China, Russia and Iran form a new axis of evil.
“This is essentially an axis of evil: China, Russia and Iran. Therefore, this is not only a test for Ukraine, but also for the United States and the free world. The path to shared security for all of us is simple: support Ukraine in winning this war,” added the Senate Republican leader.
BAiden will be worried about Ukraine
The US presidential administration is blasting Republicans from the House of Representatives for politicizing national security interests after they introduced a separate aid bill to Israel.
“Politicizing our national security interests is an endeavor in itself. Demanding reparations to cover basic US national security needs, such as supporting Israel and protecting Ukraine from Russian atrocities and imperialism, is inconsistent with the normal bipartisan process and could have disastrous consequences. consequences for our security and alliances for years to come,” said the press. -White House Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
The Speaker recalled the strong bipartisan agreement in Congress that humanitarian assistance is critical to ending the suffering of innocent people in Gaza and is directly in the national security interest of the United States.
Moreover, “there is strong bipartisan agreement that it is in our direct national security interest to help Ukraine.”
White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby did not rule out that US President Joe Biden could veto a budget bill that would not include funds to help Ukraine.
“I think we’ve made it very clear how deeply disruptive the House Republican bill is and how inadequate it is to meet our national security needs,” Kirby said.
“And as commander in chief, the president will never do anything that doesn’t meet our basic national security needs,” he added.
What are they thinking in Kyiv?
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said there is reason to believe there are votes in the US House of Representatives for legislation that would provide additional support to Ukraine. According to him, despite the disputes in Congress, “the result on the scoreboard” is important.
“The main thing is the result. The main thing is whether there are votes for the law or not. Now we have reason to believe that there are votes for a law that will give Ukraine an additional amount of support in the House of Representatives. Representative,” he said in the telethon.
At the same time, he said, in the United States “there is a big political confrontation.”
“And it would be a sin for some political players in America not to take advantage of the issue of this bill,” he said.
Kuleba believes that in the near future, statements will continue to be made from the United States, “that will irritate us, that will create panic, that everything is lost” – “in politics, a lot depends on statements. “
“In the end, what matters, as Lobanovsky said, is the result on the scoreboard. We are all working now to ensure that the result on the voting board in the US Congress is positive for Ukraine. And now I see all the prospects for this,” he said.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.