The US House approves aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan
After months of negotiations, pressure and heartfelt requests, the Biden administration's effort was crowned with success: lhe US House of Representatives has given the green light to the long-awaited new aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan for a total of 95 billion dollars. The bills were approved in quick succession with an overwhelming bipartisan vote, even if they leave some doubts about the future of Speaker Mike Johnson, in the crosshairs of ultra-conservative representatives.
US President Joe Biden welcomed the decisionand, emphasizing that the approved packages “will provide critical support to Israel and Ukraine; provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and other locations… and strengthen security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.” The head of the White House praised the deputies who united across party lines “to answer the call of history”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj also celebrated the House's green light for aid, claiming that “they will prevent the war from spreading, save thousands and thousands of lives and help both our nations become stronger.” “We hope that the bills will be supported by the Senate and sent for President Biden's signature. Thank you, America!”, concluded the leader of Kiev on X. In this regard, the Senate could approve the bill as early as next Tuesday , said House Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
Moscow's reaction is harsh, according to which the new aid “will worsen the global crisis”, as accused by the spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova. The approved package “will further enrich the United States and ruin Ukraine even more, killing even more Ukrainians because of the Kiev regime,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov echoed.
The approval of new aid to Ukraine – almost 61 billion dollars – It comes after Congress failed to approve large-scale funding for Kiev for nearly a year and a half, mainly due to cross-vetoes. It is the culmination of months of work by Biden and the Democrats in Congress to overcome the opposition of a part of the Republicans, close to Donald Trump, and come to the aid of the Ukrainian ally in difficulty against Russian troops. War financing has become a point of contention ahead of November's presidential election that will likely pit Biden against Trump once again.
The speaker of the House, the Republican Johnson, after months of hesitation, finally expressed his support for the package for Ukraine and the handful of ultra-conservative Republicans, who had threatened his ouster if he insisted on this line, seemed step back, at least temporarily. The Ukraine bill will also allow Biden to confiscate and sell Russian assets and provide money to Kiev to fund reconstruction, a move that has found support from other G7 nations.
US lawmakers also approved a total of $26 billion in emergency assistance to Israel, including nearly $14 billion in military aid for its war against Hamas in Gaza. The funds will essentially be used to strengthen the Iron Dome air defense system. The overall figure also includes 9 billion dollars allocated to address “the desperate need for humanitarian assistance for Gaza and other vulnerable populations around the world”.
To all this, add 8 billion dollars intended to arm Taiwan and the measure that provides for the ban of TikTok in the USA in case it does not cut its ties with China. A prospect that sparked a harsh reaction from the platform, controlled by the Chinese group ByteDance: such a maneuver would mean “violating the freedom of expression” of 170 million Americans, a spokesperson commented. Not to mention, he added, that the proposed ban “would devastate 7 million businesses and shut down a platform that contributes $24 billion a year to the U.S. economy.”
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