White smoke in Washington. The United States adopted on Tuesday a gigantic package of military and economic assistance for Ukraine, the result of months of extremely tense and laborious negotiations in Congress.
The $95 billion aid plan, which also includes funds for Israel, Taiwan and an ultimatum to TikTok, received overwhelming support in the US Senate. “Finally, finally, finally. Tonight, after more than six months of hard work, and many twists and turns, America is sending a message to the whole world: we will not turn our backs on you,” applauded the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Chuck Schumer.
Zelensky “grateful”
Joe Biden immediately announced that he was going to promulgate the text, adopted on Saturday in the House of Representatives, the other component of Congress. “I will sign this bill and address the American people as soon as it hits my desk tomorrow (Wednesday), so that we can begin sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week,” he said. -he declares.
Congress responded to “the call of history” with this law which aims to “strengthen our national security and send a message to the world about the power of American leadership,” the president added. On social networks, his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “grateful to the United States Senate for having approved vital aid for Ukraine”.
These funds are the result of months of extremely acrimonious negotiations, the comings and goings of the Ukrainian president in Washington, and pressure from allies around the world. They even cost a Republican leader his job.
Biden will be able to sell Russian assets
The lion’s share goes to kyiv, which faces a complicated situation on the battlefield against Russia: $61 billion is spent on the war in Ukraine. American military assistance, interrupted for several weeks, should therefore resume almost immediately.
This aid plan also authorizes Joe Biden to confiscate and sell Russian assets so that they can be used to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine. A large part of the envelope will also be used to replenish the stocks of the American army and will return to arms factories in the United States.
Money for Taiwan
Among the other parts of the plan: new military aid worth several billion dollars for Israel. More than 9 billion dollars are also planned to respond to the “urgent need for humanitarian aid” of “vulnerable populations around the world”, particularly in Gaza and Sudan.
As Joe Biden had demanded, this law devotes 8 billion dollars to stand up to China militarily by investing in submarines, and to help Taiwan. It also provides for the ban on TikTok in the United States, unless the social network cuts its ties with its parent company ByteDance, and more broadly with China.