“It’s an investment in our own security,” said Joe Biden after signing a vast assistance plan for Ukraine, to which he promised to send military equipment in the coming “hours”.
The law, which provides $61 billion in military and economic aid for kyiv, “will strengthen America’s security and the security of the world,” said the American president, acknowledging that the legislative process had been “difficult “.
“We do not bow to anyone. Nobody. And certainly not to (Russian President) Vladimir Putin,” declared the 81-year-old democrat.
“We do not abandon our allies, we support them. We do not let the tyrants win, we oppose them. We do not watch as spectators the developments in the world, we shape them,” he added. declared, welcoming the political consensus found between Democratic parliamentarians and a certain number of Republican elected officials, after months of difficult negotiations”, around the text.
“This is what it means to be a global superpower,” said Joe Biden, who had been demanding these funds for months.
The law received very broad support in the US Senate on Tuesday, after having been adopted a few days earlier in the House of Representatives, the other component of the US Congress.
On social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “grateful to the United States Senate for approving vital aid for Ukraine.”
The Kremlin, for its part, has minimized its scope. “All new batches of weapons are surely already ready and will not change the dynamics on the front,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
“Ammunition” rather than “our boys”
American military assistance, interrupted for several weeks, will resume “in the coming hours” with first deliveries of air defense equipment, artillery and armored vehicles.
Enough to relieve the Ukrainian army, faced with a shortage of new recruits and ammunition, in the face of constant pressure from Russian troops in the east.
The United States is kyiv’s main military supporter, but Congress had not passed a major package for its ally in nearly a year and a half – mainly due to partisan wrangling. The American president and the Democratic Party remained in favor of this aid. The Republicans, led by Donald Trump, have become increasingly reluctant, and the conservative boss of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has long blocked the text.
The Republican leader in Congress ended up supporting the resumption of military and economic aid, with this justification: “I would rather send munitions to Ukraine than send our boys to fight.”
This aid plan also authorizes President Biden to confiscate and sell Russian assets to be used to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine. An idea that is gaining ground with other G7 countries.
A large part of the envelope will also be used to replenish the stocks of the American army and will return to arms factories in the United States.
In Washington, it is hoped that this new influx of American aid will encourage Ukraine’s other allies to follow suit by also delivering military equipment, which remains to be seen.
The British and German heads of government promised “unwavering” military support for Ukraine on Wednesday, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz continues to refuse the delivery of long-range missiles to kyiv.
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