Joe Biden has asked the Congress for £27 billion in military, economic and humanitarian assistance to support Ukraine fight the invading Russian troops
The President of United States (U.S.) – Joe Biden has asked the Congress for U.S. $ 33 billion (£ 27 billion) in military, economic and humanitarian assistance to support Ukraine fight the invading Russian troops.
Of this, U.S. $ 20 billion is military aid, U.S. $ 8.5 billion is economic aid and U.S. $ 3 billion is humanitarian aid. The U.S. military support to Ukraine has so far amounted to 10 anti-tank weapons for every tank that Russia has deployed to Ukraine.
Speaking on the occasion, Biden said, “It’s not cheap.” He added, “But caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen.” He said that U.S. is not attacking Russia. It is helping Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression.
Taking it to twitter, Biden tweeted,
In order to sustain Ukraine as it continues this fight, I am sending to Congress a supplemental budget request.
— President Biden (@POTUS) April 28, 2022
It will keep weapons and ammunition flowing to the brave Ukrainian fighters and continue delivering economic and humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people. pic.twitter.com/kDd39QY539
He further tweeted,
This assistance would provide even more artillery, armored vehicles, anti-armor, and anti-air capabilities. And it would deliver much-needed humanitarian assistance like food, water, medicines, shelter, and other aid.
— President Biden (@POTUS) April 28, 2022
I hope Congress will pass this funding request quickly.
Thanking Biden, the President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted,
Grateful to @POTUS and the American people for the leadership in supporting Ukraine in our fight against Russian aggression. We defend common values - democracy and freedom. We appreciate the 🇺🇸’s help. Today it is needed more than ever! https://t.co/CBJmLf3Jfm
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 29, 2022
President Biden is asking Congress to authorise a sum of money, which is more than twice as much as the U.S. has already spent on providing military equipment and humanitarian aid. Biden also wants to send the message that U.S. is not afraid of Russian threats. Prior to this, the President of Russia – Vladimir Putin had warned that there could be retaliatory strikes against countries that intervene in Ukraine. Biden said Russia’s warning show the desperation Russia is feeling about their abject failure to do what they had wanted.
Talking about Russia threatening Poland and Bulgaria of stopping gas supplies for not paying in Russian Roubles, Biden said that the West will not let Russia intimidate or blackmail their way out of these sanctions.
The announcement of the new Ukraine package comes at a difficult time for the U.S. economy. As per the data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. economy shrank in the first quarter of 2022, with gross domestic product declining 1.4% between January and March 2022.
Prior to this, U.S. approved less than U.S. $ 14 billion in March 2022. It also approved U.S. $ 800 million (£ 642 million) military aid package last week and U.S. $ 500 million (£ 401 million) in direct economic assistance. Besides, the U.S. has so far sanctioned and blocked Russian vessels and aircraft worth over U.S. $ 1 billion. The European Union (E.U.) has collectively frozen over $ 30 billion.
