The US Senate voted on Thursday a new allocation of more than 12,000 million dollars for Ukraine during the adoption of an extension of the US federal budget until December.
The text, approved in the afternoon by senators from both camps, includes a large military component for Kyiv, at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing to formalize Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
The United States has thus released some 3,000 million dollars to train, equip and pay the Ukrainian troops.
Several billion dollars allocated to the US military
The package also includes more than $4.5 billion to ensure Ukraine’s “continuity of governance” and meet Kyiv’s macroeconomic needs.
Several billion dollars will also be allocated to the US military, which will use them in particular to finance the deployment of troops in neighboring countries and to replenish their weapons stocks.
“Seven months into the conflict, it is clear that American aid has done much to help the people of Ukraine resist Putin’s ferocious aggression,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday.
“But the fight is far from over, and we must continue to help the brave and courageous Ukrainian people,” he pleaded from the hemicycle.
Put to the vote of the elected members of the House of Representatives
This new endowment would bring to more than 65,000 million dollars the aid provided by the United States to Ukraine since the beginning of the year. It must now be put to the vote of the elected representatives of the House of Representatives, before being signed into law by US President Joe Biden.
This large envelope was attached to the US federal budget for the year 2022, which senators had to extend at all costs before Friday night, to avoid the depletion of state finances.
This situation – the famous “closure” – is extremely unpopular in the United States, because it would have forced hundreds of thousands of federal employees to technical unemployment. Both Democrats and Republicans wanted to avoid this mess at all costs, with 40 days to go before the midterm elections.
If this text is validated by the House of Representatives, the US federal budget will be extended until December 16, 2022.
Source: BFM TV
