(Washington) The United States House of Representatives will vote this week on separate aid plans for Ukraine and Israel, after months of political disputes between the Joe Biden administration and its Republican opponents, the President announced on Monday. head of this lower house of Congress.
A $60 billion envelope for Kyiv, requested by the Democratic president, has been blocked in Congress for months, as has another envelope for Israel.
“This week, we will consider separate bills,” including those to “fund our Israeli ally” and “support Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression,” said the Republican leader of the House of Representatives , Mike Johnson.
The other bills are intended to “strengthen our allies in the Indo-Pacific region” and “adopt additional measures to counter our adversaries and strengthen our national security,” added the “speaker” on the social network
Published following a meeting of Republican elected officials at the Capitol, this announcement comes two days after an unprecedented attack by Iran on Israel.
The Islamic Republic fired hundreds of missiles and drones overnight from Saturday to Sunday at Israel, in retaliation for a deadly attack on its consulate in Damascus attributed to Israel.
In this context, Western military support which helped Israel intercept almost all of Iran’s explosive missiles and drones has aroused deep bitterness in Kyiv.
“By defending Israel, the free world has demonstrated that such unity is not only possible, but also 100% effective,” noted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Monday evening.
“The same thing is possible to protect Ukraine,” he said.
“Wrong orientation”
The day before, he had urged Kyiv’s supporters not to “turn a blind eye to Russian missiles and drones” which are targeting Ukraine.
By far the primary military supporter of Israel and Ukraine, the United States has not sent major aid to Kyiv since December 2023, due to the issue being blocked by Republicans in Congress.
A package of 60 billion dollars in military and economic assistance for Ukraine was certainly adopted in the Senate, with a Democratic majority, in February.
But the Republicans in the House of Representatives refuse to examine the text – due, among other things, to another dispute, on the question of immigration.
A few months before the presidential election on November 5, the issue has transformed into a standoff between Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump.
Last week, Mike Johnson refused to comment on the future of aid to Ukraine, ensuring that negotiations were still ongoing.
In the process, Donald Trump reiterated his support for the “speaker”, who is under threat of impeachment proceedings from the most extreme fringe of the Republican Party.
During a meeting in Miami, the two men discussed Ukraine in particular, with the former president however saying he was in favor of loans rather than direct aid.
Reacting to Mike Johnson’s announcement, one of Donald Trump’s closest allies in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene, immediately said she was “firmly against the plan as it currently stands.”
“This is another bad direction from the speaker,” blasted the elected official – at the origin of the impeachment procedure – after the meeting at the Capitol.
This elected official from the most extreme fringe of the Republican Party accuses Mike Johnson of not sufficiently defending the interests of conservatives and for this reason wants to oust him from his seat.