US Senate approves $95 billion for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan

The US Senate approved this Tuesday the huge $95 billion aid plan for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, the result of months of arduous negotiations in the House of Representatives. The president of the United States, Joe Biden, announced that he wants to send weapons to Ukraine “this week.”

Of the total, lawmakers allocated $61 million for Ukraine, in battle with Russia; The package also includes $13 billion in military aid for Israel, at war against the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip, and more than $9 billion to “meet the urgent need for humanitarian aid to Gaza and other vulnerable populations around the world.” .

In addition, it includes $8 billion more to help Taiwan “counter potential threats from China, which threatens to reincorporate it into its territory one day, even by force.”

“Let’s not keep our friends around the world waiting a moment longer,” said Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

Once passed by Congress, the bill will become law with the signature of President Joe Biden. “I will sign this bill and address the American people as soon as it reaches my office (this Wednesday) so that we can begin shipping weapons and equipment this week,” Biden said in a statement, considering that the approval of Congress demonstrated that the United States “strongly supports democracy and freedom, against tyranny and oppression.”

There was practically no doubt that this enormous military and economic aid program, which President Biden had been demanding for months and which has the support of Democratic and Republican congressmen, would be approved.

The package was admitted on Saturday by the House of Representatives.

On Monday, Biden promised his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to send him military aid “quickly.” The Ukrainian army faces a shortage of recruits and ammunition that weakens it in the face of constant pressure from Russian troops in the east. The situation on the front may worsen towards mid-May and early June, which will be a “difficult period,” the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kirilo Budanov, warned on Monday. The aid plan also authorizes President Biden to confiscate and sell Russian assets so that they can be used to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine, an idea that is gaining support in other G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and States). The United States Congress has not approved an aid package for its ally for almost a year and a half.

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