US tips $57bn into Ukraine war chest
KYIV: The US Congress has approved a massive $US40bn ($57bn) aid package for Ukraine to help fight Russia’s invasion as President Joe Biden rallied behind the historic NATO membership bids of Sweden and Finland.
With unusually bipartisan support, the Senate voted 86-11 to pass the unprecedented package – the equivalent of the 2020 GDP of Cameroon – after one senator briefly held up the vote, voicing alarm on the costs.
“Aid for Ukraine goes far beyond charity,” Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said. “The future of American security and core strategic interests will be shaped by the outcome of this fight.”
The bundle includes $US6bn for Ukraine to boost its armoured vehicle inventory and air defence system.
Nearly $US9bn is set aside to help Ukraine ensure “continuity of government” as well as humanitarian aid.
The House of Representatives had approved the package last week but Rand Paul, like Senator McConnell a Republican from Kentucky, prevented a quick vote in the Senate. Senator Paul, who opposes US interventionism, voiced concern about the cost and said politicians should have been clearer on monitoring where the money goes.
But Lindsey Graham, a hawkish Republican who has previously called for the Russian
President to be assassinated, said: “When it comes to Putin, either we pay now or we pay later.”
Shortly after the vote, Secretary of State Antony Blinken released another $US100m in previously approved funding for Ukraine. The funding includes 18 new howitzers and some counterartillery radar, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
Mr Biden has cast the Ukraine war as part of a USled struggle of democracy against authoritarianism.
At the White House, he offered a red-carpet welcome to the leaders of Finland and Sweden days after they applied for NATO membership in the wake of Russia’s invasion. “The bottom line is simple. Quite straightforward: Finland and Sweden make NATO stronger,” Mr Biden said, offering the “full, total, complete backing of the United States of America”.
Sweden and Finland have historically kept a distance from NATO as part of longstanding policies aimed at avoiding angering Russia but they shifted amid shock over the invasion of Ukraine, which has sought unsuccessfully to join the alliance.
Meanwhile, the justice chiefs of the members of the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance gave strong support to Ukraine’s efforts to prosecute war crimes arising from Russia’s invasion.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has opened thousands of cases into alleged crimes committed by Putin’s forces.
It came one day after a Russian soldier pleaded guilty to murdering an unarmed 62year-old man four days into the invasion.
Vadim Shishimarin, 21, asked for forgiveness in a hearing as prosecutors sought a life sentence.
“I know that you will not be able to forgive me, but nevertheless I ask you for forgiveness,” he said, addressing the court and the wife of the man he killed.
Trials began on Thursday (local time) in Ukraine for two other Russian soldiers.