If Putin takes over Ukraine, he will not stop at only attacking one NATO ally. The United States should look at Russia’s plans in the long term and continue to support Ukraine, US President Joe Biden said.
“If Putin attacks a NATO ally, if he keeps going, and then he attacks a NATO ally, when we’ve committed as a NATO member, so we defend every inch of NATO territory, then we’ll have something that we don’t seek and that we don’t have today: American troops fighting Russian troops,” he said.
Approval of additional aid to Ukraine “cannot wait,” Biden emphasized. “Congress needs to pass supplemental funding for Ukraine before they break for the holiday recess. Simple as that,” the US president stressed.
Biden called the failure of a procedural vote in the US Senate on aid to Ukraine political blackmail.
“Republicans in Congress are threatening to cut off support for Ukraine unless they can force through their extreme partisan border policies. It’s political blackmail, pure and simple. The stakes are too high and the consequences are too significant for political brinksmanship,” the US President said.
The bill on providing assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan failed to pass a procedural vote in the US Senate on December 6. To be put to the vote, the document had to receive at least 60 votes out of 100 – only 49 senators voted “for.”
“As we predicted, the Senate has not supported the decision to close the debate about the international aid bill. Today 51 senators (49 Republicans, one independent (B. Sanders) and one Democrat (leader of the Democrats Ch. Schumer who voted last when the result was already clear) voted against the decision to end debate on the international aid package bill announced the previous day, which included Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the states of the Indo-Pacific region,” Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador in the US, said.
At the same time, the ambassador said that the failed vote does not eliminate the possibility of re-submitting the bill to a vote in the near future.
“We continue active work with our colleagues and based on very productive meetings these days, we hope that before Christmas, the Congress will support the agreed package, which will include defense, budget, humanitarian and energy aid for Ukraine for 2024,” Markarova concluded.
US President Joe Biden addressed the US Congress on October 20 with a request for almost US$105 billion to finance aid to Ukraine, Israel and US border security. Biden’s largest request in this package – more than 61 billion dollars – is intended for Ukraine. However, GOP representatives, who control the House by a narrow majority, rejected the package.
Earlier, the Office of the President of Ukraine stated that Ukraine risks losing the war with Russia without the help of the United States of America.
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