White House: Without agreement in Congress, Ukraine aid will expire by the end of the year
The dispute in the US Congress over new aid for Ukraine has been dragging on for months. Among the opposition Republicans, who are in the majority in the House of Representatives, there is partial resistance to new funding for the country fighting the Russian invasion.
Young has now written to Johnson, who has been Chairman of the House of Representatives since October: "Let me be clear: without Congressional action, we will run out of resources to provide additional weapons and equipment for Ukraine by the end of the year."
In the letter, the head of the budget office warned that the matter could not be put off until next year: "The time to help democratic Ukraine fight Russian aggression is right now. It is time for Congress to act."
US President Biden had asked Parliament for 61.4 billion dollars (56.5 billion euros) for Ukraine in October. However, an agreement in the House of Representatives is being made more difficult by the fact that there is disagreement within the Republican parliamentary group on the Ukraine aid.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives responded to the letter on the online service X, formerly Twitter, and passed the ball back to the Biden government. The latter had failed to address "the legitimate concerns of my caucus regarding the lack of a clear strategy for Ukraine", Johnson explained.
Some Republicans are demanding a significant tightening of migration policy on the border with Mexico in return for support for a new package for Ukraine. "Republican members of the House of Representatives want any additional funding for our national security to start at our own border," Johnson wrote on X.
The United States is the main supporter of Ukraine in the war against the Russian invasion forces. Since the start of the Russian war of aggression in February 2022, the US has already provided or pledged more than 44 billion dollars in military aid to Ukraine.
The dispute over aid to Ukraine is being played out against the backdrop of the overarching struggle over the US government's overall budget. Following tough negotiations, a new transitional budget was passed in mid-November, without which a budget freeze with the closure of federal agencies would have come into force. However, the transitional budget, which applies in parts until mid-January and in other parts until the beginning of February, does not contain any new aid for Ukraine.
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Source: www.stern.de
