Biden promulgates major American aid plan for Ukraine

“It's an investment in our own security,” Wednesday Joe Biden after signing a vast assistance plan à Ukraine, à which he promised to send military equipment within "hours" who come.

The law, which provides $61 billion in military and economic aid for kyiv, “will strengthen America's security and the security of the world,” said the American president, acknowledging that the legislative process had been “difficult “.

“We bow to no one, and certainly not to (Russian President) Vladimir Putin,” said the 81-year-old democrat. 60~/p>

“We do not abandon our allies, we support them. We do not let the tyrants win, we oppose them. We do not watch developments as spectators of the world, we shape them”, he further declared, welcoming the political consensus found between Democratic parliamentarians and a certain number of Republican elected officials, after months of difficult negotiations”, around the text.< /p>

“This is what it means to be a global superpower,” said Joe Biden, who had been demanding these funds for months.

The law received a very broad support in the US Senate, after having been adopted a few days earlier in the House of Representatives, the other component of the US Congress.

On social networks, the president Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “grateful to the United States Senate for having approved vital aid for Ukraine”.

The Kremlin for its part has minimized the scope. “All new batches of weapons are surely already ready and will not change the dynamics on the front,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

– “Ammunition” rather than “our boys” –

American military assistance, interrupted for several weeks, will resume “in the coming hours” with first deliveries of air defense equipment, artillery and armored vehicles.

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Ukrainian gunners fire on a Russian position in the Kharkiv region, April 21, 2024 © AFP – Anatolii STEPANOV

Enough to relieve the Ukrainian army, faced with a shortage of new recruits and ammunition, faced with constant pressure from Russian troops in the east.

The United States are Kiev's main military backer, but Congress had not passed a major package for its ally in nearly a year and a half — mainly due to partisan squabbling.

< p>The American president and the Democratic Party remained favorable to this aid.

The Republicans, led by Donald Trump, became increasingly reluctant, and the conservative boss of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, blocked the text for a long time.

Ukraine: positions of military forces © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS, Cléa PECULIER

The Republican leader in Congress ended up supporting the resumption of military and economic aid, with this justification: “I would rather send munitions to Ukraine than send our boys to fight.”

This aid plan 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 among other G7 countries.

A large part of the envelope will also be used to replenish the stocks of the American army and will return to arms factories in the United States.

In Washington, it is hoped that this new influx of American aid will encourage Ukraine's other allies to follow suit by also delivering military equipment, which remains to be seen.

The British and German heads of government thus promised “unwavering” military support to Ukraine on Wednesday , but Chancellor Olaf Scholz continues to refuse the delivery of long-range missiles to kyiv.

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