US House OKs $13.6B spending bill for Ukraine
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to approve a $13.6 billion spending bill to help Ukraine amid conflict with Russia, along with $1.5 trillion to keep US government programs operating through Sept. 30 and avoid agency shutdowns this weekend.
Iran Press/ America: The House approved the wide-ranging appropriations in bipartisan votes, sending the legislation to the Senate, which aims to act by a midnight Friday deadline when existing US government funds expire.
The aid for Ukraine is intended to help bolster its military as it battles Russian forces and provide humanitarian assistance to citizens, including an estimated 1.5 million refugees already seeking safety abroad, Reuters reported.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated that the $13.6 billion is likely to be just the tip of a much broader aid effort.
“All of us will have to do more” to help Ukraine in coming weeks or months and over the long-term to help it rebuild, Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference.
She was mainly referring to the United States and its NATO allies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded for support to American Jewish leaders after European leaders disappointed him by not abiding by their earlier promises for help in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
It came after Ukraine urged its allies, including the US and Poland, to send fighter jets to Kyiv to confront the Russian operation.
Poland won’t send fighter jets to Ukraine, the country said Tuesday, the latest in a series of similar denials from EU countries despite earlier promises to provide Ukraine with fighter jets.
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