Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukrainian and Western leaders welcomed a desperately needed aid package passed by the US House of Representatives, as the Kremlin claimed passing the bill would “further ruin” Ukraine and cause more deaths.
The House quickly approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies in a rare Saturday session, as Democrats and Republicans came together after months of far-right resistance over renewed U.S. support to repel the Russian invasion.
With an overwhelming vote, the $61 billion in aid for Ukraine was approved in a matter of minutes. Many Democrats applauded in the House of Representatives and waved Ukrainian flags.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had warned his country would lose the war without American funding, said he was grateful for the decision by American lawmakers.
“We appreciate every sign of support for our country and its independence, its people and its way of life, which Russia is trying to bury under the rubble,” he wrote on the social network X.
“The United States has demonstrated its leadership from the first days of this war. “Exactly this type of leadership is required to maintain an international order based on rules and predictability for all nations,” she said.
The Ukrainian president noted that his country’s “frontline warriors” would benefit from the aid package.
One of those “warriors” is infantryman Oleksandr, fighting around Avdiivka, the town in the Donetsk region that Ukraine lost to Russia in February after months of intense fighting.
“It is very important for us to have the support of the United States and our partners,” Oleksandr told The Associated Press. He did not give his full name for security reasons.
“With this we can stop them and reduce our losses. “It is the first step to have the possibility of liberating our territory.”
Ammunition shortages linked to delayed aid over the past six months have led Ukrainian military commanders to ration shells, a disadvantage Russia took advantage of this year: it took the town of Avdiivka and is currently inching toward the city. from Chasiv Yar, also in the Donetsk region. .
“The Russians come at us in waves: we get tired and have to abandon our positions. “This is repeated many times,” Oleksandr said. “Not having enough ammunition means we can’t cover the area it is our responsibility to hold when we are attacked.”
Other Western leaders praised the passage of the aid package.
“Ukraine is using weapons provided by NATO allies to destroy Russian combat capabilities. This makes us all safer in Europe & North America,” wrote NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in X.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that “Ukraine deserves all the support it can get against Russia.”
In Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the approval of aid to Ukraine “expected and predictable.”
The decision “will enrich the United States of America, further ruin Ukraine and lead to the death of even more Ukrainians, the fault of the Kiev regime,” Peskov said, quoted by Russian news agency Ria Novosti.
“The new aid package will not save, but on the contrary, will kill thousands and thousands more people, prolong the conflict and bring even more pain and devastation,” said Leonid Slutsky, head of the Duma’s International Affairs Committee. Russian State, he wrote in Telegram.
The entire aid package will go to the US Senate, which could approve it as early as Tuesday. President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.
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Morton reported from London.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine