(Adnkronos) – US Congress gives green light to the military and economic aid package for Ukraine. The $95 billion plan, which also includes funds for Israel, Taiwan and an ultimatum to TikTok, passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support after months of deadlock in negotiations.
The final vote was 79-18. Fifteen Republicans voted against the bill along with three Democrats. Forty-eight Democrats and 31 Republicans voted for the bill. The approval represents a significant victory for US President Joe Biden, who will sign the bill into law today. “I will sign this bill and address the American people as soon as it lands on my desk, so we can start sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week,” Biden said.
Just before the final passage, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer began his brief speech with “finally, finally, finally.” “Tonight, may Vladimir Putin rue the day he questioned American resolve,” he said.
The package combines four bills that the House voted on separately on Saturday, providing nearly $61 billion in aid for Ukraine, more than $26 billion for Israel and more than $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific. The first three bills are very similar to the package passed by the Senate earlier this year, which House Speaker Mike Johnson originally declined to bring to the House floor.
The fourth bill increases sanctions on Russian goods and contains terms that could lead to a ban on TikTok in the United States. Chinese parent company ByteDance gives about nine months to sell TikTok, or the app will be banned from American app stores.
US military assistance could arrive in Ukraine within days once President Joe Biden signs the aid bill, Pentagon spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder said. “Thanks to organizations like the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine and our efforts with international allies and partners, we have created a very robust logistics network to enable the delivery of aid to Ukraine,” Ryder said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the US Senate “for approving vital aid for Ukraine.” “Thank you to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for their strong leadership in moving this bipartisan bill forward, and to all the U.S. Senators of both parties who voted for it,” the president wrote on his Telegram channel. “This vote reinforces America’s role as a beacon of democracy and leader of the free world.”
“I am also grateful to all Americans who continue to support Ukraine and realize that the historic significance of this bill goes beyond politics. I also appreciate President Biden’s support and look forward to the swift signing of the bill law and the delivery of the next military aid package,” Zelensky added, stressing that “Ukraine’s long-range capabilities, artillery and anti-aircraft defense are extremely important tools for the rapid restoration of a just peace.”
“A victory for Vladimir Putin would not only change the map, it would not only put a mask on the face of the Ukrainian nation, but it would change the course of European history. Our Union would never be the same again”, warns the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, speaking in the plenary of the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, during the celebration of twenty years since the 2004 enlargement. Ukraine, he adds, “is carrying a heavy burden on its shoulders on behalf of all of us and is paying a price very high every day. We have seen devastating attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and difficult days on the battlefield. My friends, there is only one way to deal with this situation, there is only one language that Putin understands: we must provide Ukraine with the means. to defend themselves”, he concludes.
Israel also thanked the US Senate for approving the military aid. “I thank the US Senate for adopting, with a large majority of both parties, this aid to Israel which is a clear guarantee of the strength of our alliance and sends a strong message to all our enemies,” said Minister Israel Katz in a post published today on his X account.
“It’s like shooting yourself in the foot” because “the risk of conflict increases”, thunders China, criticizing the new US aid to Taiwan, a de facto independent island, but which Beijing considers a “rebel province” and for which it wants “reunification”. The People’s Republic makes his voice heard while the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has landed in Shanghai. The aid will not guarantee Taiwan’s security or “save its future towards independence”, Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.
“This will only lead to an increase in tensions and will favor the risk of conflict and confrontation in the Taiwan Strait – he insisted in the statements relaunched by The Paper – It’s like shooting yourself in the foot”. The invitation to Washington to respect the “principle of one China” was therefore renewed with the request to “stop delivering weapons to Taiwan”. China “will closely monitor developments in this matter and take necessary resolute and effective measures to safeguard its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.”
