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President Joe Biden speaks concerning the battle in Ukraine within the Roosevelt Room on the White Home on Thursday.
Andrew Harnik/AP
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Andrew Harnik/AP
President Joe Biden speaks concerning the battle in Ukraine within the Roosevelt Room on the White Home on Thursday.
Andrew Harnik/AP
The Biden administration is asking Congress for $33 billion in funding to answer the Russian invasion of Ukraine, greater than double the $14 billion in help licensed to this point.
The cash is meant to final till the top of the fiscal yr on Sept. 30 and supply Ukraine with a extra sustained assure of help because the battle drags on. President Biden urged Congress Thursday to approve his request as shortly as doable, saying the safety help was coming at a “pivotal time” for Ukraine’s battle in opposition to the Russian invasion.
“We want this invoice to help Ukraine in its battle for freedom,” Biden instructed reporters on the White Home.
“The prices of this battle, it is not low cost. However caving to aggression goes to be extra expensive if we enable it to occur,” he stated.
Biden additionally stated the U.S. was working with Korea, Japan, Qatar and others to assist fill the vitality import wants of Poland and Bulgaria after Russia threatened to chop pure fuel exports to these international locations. He stated Poland has important reserves, and that there are plans to divert U.S. shipments of pure fuel offered to Japan and different locations to Bulgaria, if wanted.
And he stated he was involved about current Russian feedback that paint the battle as being between NATO, the U.S. and Russia.
“They are not true — they do concern me — as a result of it reveals the desperation that Russia is feeling about their abject failure,” he stated. “Nobody must be making idle feedback about using nuclear weapons, or the likelihood that they’d use that.”
“We’re ready for no matter they do,” he stated.
Biden additionally addressed an earlier White Home announcement calling on Congress to go laws making it easier to seize assets of Russian oligarchs.
What’s within the help request
The majority of the request is for army and safety help, a complete of $20 billion to supply weapons to Ukraine, replenish U.S. arms stockpiles and assist different international locations shift away from a dependence on Russian weapons, the officers stated.
An extra $8.5 billion is being requested in financial help to the Ukrainian authorities and one other $3 billion for humanitarian and meals safety funding, together with supporting refugees from Ukraine and international locations who’re taking them in.
Biden administration officers stated they’re additionally requesting funds to deal with world financial stress because of the battle, partly to extend U.S. manufacturing of wheat and soybeans, in addition to utilizing the Protection Manufacturing Act to increase reserves of essential minerals wanted within the manufacture of protection equipment, vehicles and extra.
Congress won’t be able to behave instantly to go the funding because the Home is about to depart on a weeklong recess. There have been deliberations about whether or not to connect the Ukraine funding to COVID help that the White Home has requested and has been stalled.
“It definitely is sensible for them to maneuver collectively,” an official stated, including that Biden will handle the necessity for each swimming pools of funding in his remarks. Pentagon leaders in current days have urged Congress to maneuver directly on the funding, and Home Majority Chief Steny Hoyer, D-Md., indicated to reporters Wednesday he would help transferring the Ukraine help impartial of the COVID package deal if it meant avoiding a delay. The COVID help has been caught up in disagreements between the events, together with over extending the Title 42 pandemic border controls.
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