The United States cannot afford to remain passive in the face of the conflict in Ukraine, explained, on Thursday April 28, American President Joe Biden to justify his request to Congress for a colossal budget extension of 33 billion dollars (31.5 billion euros) mainly to deliver more military aid to Kyiv.
Of this total, 20 billion must go to the supply of armaments, nearly seven times more than the impressive quantities of arms and ammunition already supplied to Ukraine since the Russian invasion, launched on February 24.
kyiv has already received ten anti-tank weapons for each Russian tank, boasted the American president during his speech at the White House. But the United States “don’t attack” Russia, he assured, they “Help Ukraine to defend itself” It front of “atrocities and aggression” Russian. The Kremlin had earlier warned against arms deliveries to Ukraine which “threat to security” European.
A controversial amendment
These 33 billion additional aid must now be released by the US Parliament. But the discussions between elected officials, whose support for kyiv is nevertheless unanimous, stumble for the moment on the content of the law supposed to extend military aid: the Democrats want to insert an amendment therein to increase the budget for the fight at the same time. anti-Covid in the United States, which the Republicans categorically refuse. If Democratic Senator Leader Chuck Schumer tries to tie the two together, “it will probably doom both” to failure, warned a member of the Republican leadership in the Senate.
The White House will “to be active in all directions” in order to obtain this passage through Congress, executive spokeswoman Jen Psaki promised on Thursday, emphasizing the importance of Joe Biden’s personal rise. The president will probably return to the subject by visiting a Lockheed Martin factory in the state of Alabama next Tuesday, where the Javelin anti-tank missile launchers are produced, weapons that have become symbols of Ukrainian resistance.
For Ukraine, increased aid is urgent: more than two months after the start of the conflict, Russia has redoubled its assaults on the south and east of the country, which came under heavy fire from bombs on Thursday, as well as the capital kyiv hit by bombardments.
After being confined to weapons seen as defensive, Washington is now sending artillery, helicopters and drones to the Ukrainian army, whose soldiers are trained in the use of these weapons in the United States or in third countries before returning to the front. .
Increase pressure on the oligarchs
Joe Biden also toughened his tone after Russian gas giant Gazprom halted gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria – both members of the European Union and NATO – a decision that the threat of a shortage in central and eastern Europe but also on the whole of the European continent.
“We will not let them use their oil or gas reserves to avoid the consequences of their aggression” in Ukraine, he said. “We are working with other countries, such as Korea, Japan or Qatar, to help our European allies threatened by this Russian gas blackmail”he added.
The American president also castigated Thursday the threats “irresponsible” of Vladimir Putin of a possible recourse to nuclear weapons. “It shows the sense of desperation felt by Russia in the face of its miserable failure in terms of its initial objectives”, he judged. His administration wants to increase the pressure on the Russian president and his entourage by proposing to liquidate the assets “kleptocratic” seized from Russian oligarchs and transferring the proceeds to kyiv “to compensate for the damage caused by Russian aggression”the White House said in a statement.
These assets seized amount to date, for the countries of the European Union (EU) alone, to more than 30 billion dollars in Russian assets, including nearly 7 billion in luxury goods belonging to the oligarchs (yachts, works of art, real estate and helicopters), specifies this press release.
The United States has “sanctioned and blocked ships and planes worth more than a billion, as well as freezing hundreds of millions of dollars of assets of Russian elites in American accounts”. And this month Spain granted a US request to seize a $90 million superyacht owned by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin.
Punitive measures that should not weaken, the White House promising Thursday to continue to “to crack down” against maneuvers “penalty avoidance” by reinforcing the American capacities of investigations and prosecutions against the oligarchs tempted to evade it.
After the end of the war in Ukraine, “the aggressor will have to pay for the reconstruction” of this country, said Thursday at the United Nations, the Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia, Veronika Remisova, judging also that at ” long term “ it will be necessary “to integrate” Russia in the community of nations.
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