The ink of Joe Biden’s signature was not yet dry on the role of the new aid law for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan when the US president appeared before the cameras from the White House this Wednesday to announce that the measure was already promulgated and that the first military aid package for kyiv, of 1 billion dollars (about 935 million euros), will begin to be sent immediately, “in a matter of hours.”
“It’s a good day for world peace,” declared a beaming Biden from the State Dining Room of the White House. “It’s going to make America safer, the world safer, and it extends America’s leadership in the world.” Just hours after the Senate approved the law by 79 votes to 18, the president signed it. The norm provides for the distribution of 95 billion dollars and allocates 61 billion for economic and military aid to Ukraine; 26,000 for Israel and humanitarian aid in the world, including Gaza, and 8,000 for Taiwan and allies in the Indo-Pacific. In addition, it contains a series of provisions that include the possible ban of TikTok if its parent company, the Chinese ByteDance, does not put the popular short video application on sale.
The enactment of the law completes what has been an arduous path to provide essential aid for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, forced to ration ammunition while trying to contain further advances by Russian troops. After seven months of negotiations, setbacks and blockades in Congress, where the ultra-conservative wing of the Republican Party was categorically opposed to allocating more funds for the invaded country, the fact that it has gone ahead is an important political boost for Biden, who presented the request for funds and pressed again and again for its approval.
“As I have argued for months, this directly affects the national security interests of the United States. Yeah [Vladímir] “Putin prevails in Ukraine, the next move by Russian forces could be a coup against a NATO ally,” he noted.
It is the first time in more than a year that Congress has given the green light to new funds for the invaded country; and it occurs when several surveys point to a recovery for Biden in voting intentions ahead of the November elections, after months of lagging behind his Republican rival, Donald Trump.
“It has been a difficult road, and it should have been easier and arrived sooner,” said the president, who took the opportunity to attack the blockade of the most conservative Republicans while “the friends” of Russia—China, North Korea , Iran—provided help so that Moscow had drones, ammunition and other aid for its defense industry.
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“But in the end, we did what the United States always does: we rose to the occasion, we came together and we did it,” the American president congratulated himself. “Now we need to move fast, and we are doing that.”
The first aid package was already being prepared since it became clear that the House of Representatives, the main obstacle on the way to approval, was preparing to say yes to the funds last Saturday, after a sudden change of opinion by its president , Republican Mike Johnson.
“For them (Ukrainians) this help is essential. In the next few hours we will begin to send you equipment: air defense munitions, missile systems, armored vehicles,” the president said.
The new batch, as specified by the Department of Defense in an almost simultaneous statement, aims to respond to the most urgent needs of kyiv’s forces. The shipment includes air defense systems, such as RIM-7 and AIM-9M missiles and Stinger missiles; artillery ammunition, including projectiles to shoot down drones; ammunition for HIMARS missile systems; mortars, Javelin anti-tank missiles, mines, night vision equipment and armored vehicles, among others.
The abundance and diversity of what was sent contrasts with the meagerness of the last aid package so far, for $300 million in March, which the Pentagon scraped from savings on defense contracts.
“This package will increase ammunition, weapons and equipment to support Ukraine’s ability to defend its front lines, protect its cities and counter continued attacks from Russia,” says the Department of Defense. The new arms shipment will be the United States’ 56th since the start of the war in February 2022.
The material could reach Ukrainian soil in a matter of days. The United States, whose armed forces boast of the excellence of their logistics systems, has a well-oiled supply system throughout the two years of war. From their weapons warehouses in Germany, the transfer to the invaded country is a quick process.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also reiterated for his part that the United States “will continue to work with the coalition of more than 50 countries to provide critical support to Ukrainian forces.”
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