Now let’s win this war. US Congress approves aid package for allies

With a solid majority, The US Congress has approved the $95 billion military aid package for allies abroad. The law includes $60 billion for Kyiv (of which $10 billion in loans until 2026); $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza; $8 billion for Taiwan and allies in the Indo-Pacific. Also included is a measure that paves the way for the sale of frozen Russian sovereign assets to help finance Ukrainian defense from the aggression of Vladimir Putin and a new round of sanctions against Iran.

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It’s been six months since President Joe Biden first asked Congress to approve military aid to allies; in February the Senate approved a law providing for more or less the same amount, but until yesterday the Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, did not want to bring it to the vote in his chamber. He finally did it, with a different text that will have to go to the Senate on Tuesday – and where he will not encounter any obstacles. it will take less than a week for some weapons to reach the battlefield: according to the Washington Post, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had begun assembling supplies well before the votes. It will take less than a week for some weapons to reach the battlefield: According to the Washington Post, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had begun assembling supplies well before the votes.

The obstacle was Johnson and the Republican Party’s dependence on Donald Trump, former American president and conservative candidate in the November elections. Trump is openly anti-Ukrainian – we will not give “a penny” to Kyiv, he said to his European ally Viktor Orban – and above all he forbids any collaboration with the democrats.

Johnson changed his mind and severed his dependence on Trump, who in the meantime has become less hostile, perhaps because he too has read the polls which say that his voters are much less isolationist than him and care about international allies. “I may be making a selfish choice, but I will do what I think is right,” Mike Johnson said on Wednesday. “I think providing aid to Ukraine is seriously important. I absolutely trust the intelligence and briefings we have received: I believe that Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Iran are truly an axis of evil. I think they coordinate with each other.” Johnson has decided not to save his job – now in the balance – and save Ukraine: it is the first time this has happened.

In addition, Johnson also recognized another relevant thing: Russia, Iran and China work together to weaken the West, brutally attacking Ukraine and Israel. It is a significant distortion of the line held so far by the Republican Party, and we are wondering about the reasons for this change: one explanation lies in Rupert Murdoch’s media.

Johnson’s future will not be decided this week in a formal way, because the work of the Congress is suspended until April 29th. The speaker has already said he is ready for the challenge, but he will fight: he doesn’t want to resign.

The future of Ukraine instead, which has been overshadowed in recent months due to this obtuse hostility of the American Congress – overshadowed for a country at war means losing soldiers, civilians and territory – now it may be different. American weapons are indispensable for Ukrainian defense, the Congress’s decision serves to contain the damage of the offensive that Putin is preparing for the summer and above all to reject those who think that the important thing is to put an end to the war – that is, to make concessions to Moscow – and don’t win it.