The US House of Representatives will consider a proposal from senators to vote separately on aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Debate continues in the United States over further support for Ukraine. The bipartisan negotiations that took place for several months on the combination of the issue of the southern border of the United States and support for Kyiv did not yield the desired result. Yesterday, the Senate supported the part of the bill that focuses on foreign support, then the decision is in the House of Representatives, where the Republicans have a majority. If congressmen agree on this issue, read the story.
The American newspaper The Washington Post noted that for the first time in a year, senators came close to providing aid to Ukraine. 17 Republicans joined the Democrats to start considering aid to Kyiv (more than $60 billion) without combining the border issue.
Journalists say the Republican support was a surprise given the long and difficult week and their failure to vote on a border security reform package.
However, even if the bill passes the Senate, its chances in the House of Representatives are more doubtful. After all, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson made it clear that the document faces a difficult path, because in the House the majority is held by Republicans who have taken a hard position on stopping funding for Ukraine .
The article’s authors also note that aid to Kyiv has become politically toxic to many Republican lawmakers, whose “America First” narrative has undermined foreign aid even to Israel.
At the same time, GOP senators are divided over how to proceed with the foreign aid package, with some critics arguing that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has led them into a political boxing ring where Democrats gained an advantage because Republicans did not support the bill. . about border security, although this is exactly what was requested in the first place.
Another popular American newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, citing Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, said that the process of amendments began in the Senate. In particular, Republicans want to make changes related to the border security law passed by the House of Representatives, called HR 2. They also want to reduce the budget that goes to pay government employees in Kyiv. This, as the publication notes, is about eight billion dollars.
Initially, Republicans insisted they would support such a package only if it were accompanied by dramatic increases in border enforcement. But after four months of negotiations that resulted in a bipartisan deal Sunday, GOP lawmakers rejected the proposal and the bill was blocked from the floor Wednesday, forcing Democrats to propose a narrower plan. which focuses only on foreign aid.
The Associated Press focused on the senators’ views. In particular, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the latest vote “a good first step” and promised that the Senate “will continue to work on this bill – until the job is done.” However, the document’s path remains uncertain as Senate leaders have not agreed on a process to limit the time for debate on the bill. The final vote could take a few days, maybe longer.
The authors of the article wrote that Republicans were divided and frustrated as the GOP leader of the Senate Mitch McConnell of Kentucky tried to find a way to provide aid to Ukraine through Congress. Therefore, some of his colleagues also promised to do everything to delay the final decision.
“I will oppose anything that accelerates the passage of this rotten foreign spending bill,” said Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who is one of Ukraine’s biggest opponents of aid.
Many other Republicans have expressed reservations about supporting the new funding. Even after they rejected the bipartisan border plan as inadequate, they are again pushing to tie border efforts to foreign aid.
The New York Times published an extensive article that examines a possible scenario for the collapse of support for Ukraine. Journalists expressed concern that military aid could be stuck in the House. Not least because of former President Donald Trump.
And although Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, has insisted that the White House is sticking to “Plan A,” there is already plenty of discussion behind the scenes in Washington and Europe about other options for helping. in Kyiv. These include the seizure of more than $300 billion in Russian central bank assets held in Western countries.
However, US officials acknowledge that there is nothing on the horizon that can match the new $60 billion congressional appropriation that could buy stronger air defenses, more tanks and missiles, and a large stockpile of bullet for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The authors of the article note that the argument that the West should push against Russia in Ukraine or face the possibility of fighting it on NATO soil appears to be losing its effectiveness in Congress. And some Republicans in Congress still blame Europe for failing to keep its promises.
But none of these arguments, officials in the United States and Europe say, can handle reality: if the United States stops financial support for the war, Ukraine will not be able to meet most of its daily needs. Ukrainian Armed Forces. Moreover, Ukraine’s economy could collapse, ending a two-year effort to save the “young but flawed” democracy.
Victor Kovalchuk, expert on international issues at Sotsiopolis Research Company
Olesya Krasnolutskaya, editor of the Athletistic Stories section
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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.