Biden prepares to provide 33 billion dollars to Ukraine

The United States is ready to provide all possible support to Ukraine as it resists desperately Russia’s all-out attacks on the southeastern part of the nation. U.S. President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday (local time) to grant approval of a 33-billion-dollar aid to Ukraine.

The newly proposed budget is equivalent to a fifth of Ukraine’s GDP before the Russian invasion of the country and larger by 10 times than the total sum that Washington has provided to Ukraine since the war broke out, due to which experts assess that the United States’ generous financial assistance is no different than its joining of the battlefield. The ongoing conflict across Ukraine is entering into an increasingly obvious phase of a “proxy war” as Russia brings up “nuclear warfare” while warning about the consequences of the West World’s interventions.

“This step is not cheap,” President Biden said. “But the negative consequences for the whole world from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and against democracy are so massive that by comparison the U.S. support is necessary.”

“We need this bill to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom,” said President Biden at the White House on Thursday. “The cost of this fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen.” The package worth a total of 33 billion dollars consists of a 20-billion-dollar military assistance in weapons and ammunition, a portion of 8.5 billion dollars for economic aid and 3 billion dollars’ humanitarian aid. Reuters reported that the sum of 20 billion dollars is a third of last year’s budget for Russian troops.

“The measure was designed to signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin that U.S. weaponry and other streams of assistance are not going away,” said The Associated Press. President Biden made it clear that the U.S. government intends to assist Ukrainian troops continuously unless Russia ceases acts of aggression and brutality. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude toward President Biden and U.S. citizens, hoping Congress to give approval swiftly.

U.S. Congress jointly agreed to supply arms to Ukraine. The House of Representative on Thursday showed bipartisan support of the revised bill of the Lend-Lease Act that was put in force to aid European allies during the Second World War. This bill aims to streamline a mandatory administrative process for the U.S. government to send arms to other nations, which in effect ensures a real-time and unlimited provision of weapons. Once President Biden signs it off, it comes into force immediately.

A multifaceted level of U.S. assistance to Ukraine implies its determination to win the Ukraine war, according to experts. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on his visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Tuesday that he hopes Russia will be “weakened to the point where it can’t do things like invade Ukraine.”

Despite the buildup of U.S. support of Ukraine, Washington seems careful about the way it is considered to be fighting war as a proxy for Ukraine. The U.S. president also said on Thursday, “We’re not attacking Russia; we’re helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression.”


Jae-Dong Yu jarrett@donga.com