Ukraine: US House of Representatives votes for $61 billion in aid

After long and difficult negotiations, the American House of Representatives adopted on Saturday a huge aid plan for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, supported by elected officials from both sides. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately welcomed assistance which “will save thousands of lives”, while the American Joe Biden judged that Congress was living up to “History”. Russia, on the other hand, affirmed that this aid “will kill even more Ukrainians because of the Kiev regime”.

A total envelope of 95 billion dollars

Parliamentarians voted in quick succession for this gigantic envelope of 95 billion dollars, requested for months by President Biden. The text on theUkraine plans 61 billion to help kyiv against Russia; that on Israel includes several billion dollars to notably strengthen the Israeli anti-missile shield, called “Iron Dome”.

Elected officials also voted on a text to stand up to China and help Taiwan, and adopted a measure 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.

The fruit of months of acrimonious negotiations

In the hemicycle, parliamentarians waved Ukrainian flags to the boos of Trumpist elected officials. The texts should be quickly examined by the Senate, which could consider the measures as early as Tuesday, indicated the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Chuck Schumer. It is the result of months of acrimonious negotiations, comings and goings of the Ukrainian president in Washington and pressure from allies around the world.

At the heart of all the tensions: the financing of the war in Ukraine. 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. Democrat 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.

The Republican leader of the House ended up supporting this military aid

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Saturday welcomed the approval by the US House of Representatives of this highly anticipated aid program. “I welcome the fact that the United States House of Representatives has approved a significant new aid package for Ukraine. Ukraine is using weapons provided by NATO allies to destroy Russian combat capabilities. This strengthens the security of us all, in Europe and North America,” Jens Stoltenberg said on X.

I welcome that the US House of Representatives has approved a major new package of aid to #Ukraine. Ukraine is using the weapons provided by #NATO Allies to destroy Russian combat capabilities. This makes us all safer, in Europe & North America.

— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) April 20, 2024

The European Union welcomed the approval of aid to Ukraine, saying it was “a clear message to the Kremlin.” More circumspect, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a fervent defender of kyiv, thanked the United States but highlighted the delay in adopting the assistance. “Better late than too late. And I hope it’s not too late for Ukraine,” he wrote on X.

.@SpeakerJohnson, thank you. Better late than too late. And I hope it is not too late for Ukraine.

— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) April 20, 2024

In the middle of an election year, the issue has transformed in the United States into a remote duel between the two presidential candidates. 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, not without a certain emotion.

This aid plan – mainly military and economic assistance – also authorizes President Biden to confiscate and sell Russian assets to be used to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Israel, Gaza, TikTok: the other parts of the big plan

Among the other parts of the big plan: 13 billion dollars in military assistance to the historic ally of the United States, Israel, at war with Hamas. More than nine billion dollars are also planned to “respond to the urgent need for humanitarian aid in Gaza and other vulnerable populations around the world”, according to a summary of the text. As Joe Biden had demanded, this bill devotes eight billion dollars to stand up to China militarily and come to the aid of Taiwan.

She also foresees a threat of banning TikTok in the United States. The video platform is accused of allowing Beijing to spy on and manipulate its 170 million users in the United States.

The Biden administration said it was “very supportive” of all these measures. The president’s spokesperson also indicated on Friday that the flow of American aid to Ukraine would resume “immediately” after the adoption of this text by both houses of Congress. But this adoption could cost Republican leader Mike Johnson his position: a handful of conservative elected officials, fiercely opposed to aid to Ukraine, have promised to do everything to remove the “speaker” in order to punish him for his support.