Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday thanked “Joe Biden, Congress, and the American people” for the latest $250 million (roughly €225 million) military aid package announced late on Wednesday.
“Additional air defense missiles and components, anti-tank weapons, ammunition, mine clearing, and other equipment will cover Ukraine’s most pressing needs,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.
He said such assistance from the more than 50 countries supporting Ukraine with military aid “is critical to countering terror and aggression not only in Ukraine but around the world.”
The tranche of aid approved late Wednesday is the last for the year, and as the White House appeals to Congress to approve more funds urgently, warning that failure to do so will lead to available resources running out by the end of the year.
Republicans, who hold the balance of power in the House of Representatives, are trying to tie any future assistance for Ukraine to promises of tightened security along the US border with Mexico. Congress has not approved the allocation of any new funds for Ukraine since Republicans took a majority in the House in January 2023, but the previously agreed plans were completed as scheduled.
“To defend freedom and security not only in Ukraine and Europe but also in the United States, we must continue to respond to ongoing Russian aggression in the most forceful and resolute manner possible,” Zelenskyy said.
msh/rc (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
