United States (US) PRESIDENT Joe Biden made a fresh appeal to Congress to pass aid for Ukraine during a visit by the prime minister (PM) of the Czech Republic on Monday. Meanwhile debate is emerging about whether it should be linked to funding for Israel.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said he aimed to advance wartime aid for Israel this week after Iran’s attack at the weekend, but the White House said it would block any bill that did not contain anything for Kyiv.
“Congress must pass sustainable funding” for Ukraine “and they must do it now,” Democrat Biden said as he hosted Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala at the White House.
“There’s tremendous support in the House and the Senate if people let the vote happen.”
Biden praised the Czech leader as a “great ally” for his strong support of Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, including securing nearly a million rounds of ammunition for Kyiv as US funding dried up.
“As the Czech Republic remembers, Russia will not stop in Ukraine and the impact on NATO will be significant. Putin will press on, putting Europe, the United States and the rest of the world at risk if we don’t stop him,” Biden said.
Also read: US Imposes Heavy Sanctions on Russia Due to Navalny’s Death and Ukraine War
After shaking hands with Biden in the Oval Office, Fiala thanked the US president for his leadership in rallying Western support for Kyiv.
“In 1968 I was a little boy, I saw Russian tanks on the streets of my city and I never wanted to see this again,” he said.
US aid has languished in a divided Congress, with Johnson blocking earlier $95 billion in aid Biden sought for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, which had already been approved by the Senate.
Also read: Biden condemns Trump’s comments regarding NATO as “horrible and dangerous”
The White House rejects every bill that contains only aid for Israel.
“We will not accept being independent. Independent will not help Israel and Ukraine,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing.
Johnson is walking on a razor’s edge on aid to Ukraine, as Trump and far-right lawmakers in the House have become increasingly skeptical about pouring billions of dollars into Ukraine’s war against invading Russian forces.
Ukraine in recent months has grown increasingly frustrated with delays in Western aid, including air defenses it says are urgently needed to repel deadly Russian attacks. (AFP/Z-3)
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