US House of Representatives adopts vast $61 billion aid plan for kyiv

The measure must still be examined by the Senate, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has already welcomed the vote, which he says will “save thousands and thousands of lives”.

After long and difficult negotiations, the American House of Representatives adopted a major aid plan for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan supported by elected officials from both sides, Saturday April 20. Parliamentarians voted in quick succession on this gigantic envelope of 95 billion dollars, requested for months by President Joe Biden. These measures should be quickly examined by the Senate, which could examine the texts as early as Tuesday, announced the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Chuck Schumer.

The representatives, in particular, adopted the long-awaited envelope of 61 billion dollars to help Ukraine at war against Russia. This American aid “will save thousands and thousands of lives”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately reacted. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg also welcomed the vote. In the hemicycle, parliamentarians waved Ukrainian flags as a sign of support for kyiv, to the boos of Trumpist elected officials. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, for his part, estimated that this aid “will kill even more Ukrainians because of the kyiv regime”.

These measures are the result of months of acrimonious negotiations, comings and goings of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington and pressure from allies around the world. In Ukraine, this delay notably resulted in a lack of artillery shells, essential against the more numerous and better armed Russian troops.

Months and months of negotiations

The United States is kyiv’s main military backer, but Congress has not passed a major package for its ally in nearly a year and a half – mainly due to partisan wrangling. Democratic President Joe Biden and his party in Congress are very supportive of new aid for Ukraine, at war with Russia. But the Republicans, led by Donald Trump, are increasingly reluctant to finance a conflict which is getting bogged down.

After months of procrastination, the Republican leader of the House, Mike Johnson, ended up supporting the package for Ukraine. “To put it bluntly: I would rather send ammunition to Ukraine than send our boys to fight”, he pleaded. This aid plan – primarily military and economic assistance – also authorizes President Biden to confiscate and sell Russian assets to be used to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine. An idea that is gaining ground with other G7 countries.

The elected officials first adopted, at the beginning of the afternoon, a text included in this bill and issuing an ultimatum to TikTok, which provides for the ban of the application in the United States unless the social network does not cut its ties with its parent company ByteDance, and more broadly with China. Then they voted for a text to stand up to China and help Taiwan. They also voted for new military aid to Israel – which provides $13 billion in military assistance, notably to strengthen the Israeli anti-missile shield, known as the “Iron Dome”.

More than nine billion dollars are also planned for “meeting the urgent need for humanitarian assistance in Gaza and other vulnerable populations around the world”according to a summary of the text.