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Biden Pledges $60B Military Aid to Ukraine
(CTN News) – US President Joe Biden has informed his Ukrainian counterpart that $60 billion in military help is coming.
The bill still needs to pass a final congressional vote, but Mr Biden told Volodymyr Zelensky he was certain it would pass.
Mr Zelensky has previously issued an urgent need for more weaponry to prevent a “catastrophic” situation in Europe.
The United States has blamed Ukraine’s withdrawal from the fight of Avdiivka on a lack of congressional backing.
Russia’s capture of Avdiivka, a gateway to the Donetsk regional capital in the east, is their first significant gain since seizing Bakhmut in May.
“Ukraine’s military was forced to withdraw from Avdiivka after Ukrainian soldiers had to ration ammunition due to dwindling supplies as a result of congressional inaction,” the White House said in a statement.
Following months of political debate this week, the US Senate approved a $95 billion (£75 billion) foreign aid package, including $60 billion for Ukraine. However, it still faces an uphill struggle in the House of Representatives, where Republican members are divided.
“Look, the Ukrainian people have fought so bravely and heroically, they’ve put so much on the line, and the idea that now, when they’re running out of ammunition, we’d walk away – I find it absurd,” Mr Biden told reporters after his chat with Mr Zelensky.
“I find it unethical; I find it just contrary to everything we are as a country”, he said. “So I’m going to fight until we get them the ammunition they need and the capacity they need to defend themselves.”
The Ukrainian president also urged US senators to pass the funding package.
“I am glad that I can count on the full support of the American president,” he wrote on Telegram.
Mr Zelensky has been in Germany, where he has issued an urgent call for more weaponry to prevent a “catastrophic” situation in Europe.
“Keeping Ukraine in artificial weapons deficits, particularly in artillery and long-range capabilities, allows Putin to adapt to the current level of the war,” he told an international conference in Munich.
“Ukrainians have proven that we can force Russia to retreat,” Mr. Putin stated. “We can get our land back.”
“Do not ask Ukraine when the conflict will end. Ask yourself why Putin is still able to do it.
Ukraine relies heavily on arms supplies from the United States and other Western partners to continue battling Russia, a considerably larger military force with abundant artillery ammunition.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron stated that UK, EU, and US assistance to Ukraine would make a “real difference” in the struggle against Russia.
Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko told the BBC that the American leadership had let down him.
“If you can’t count on your partner, because America was saying you can count on us, we will be with Ukraine as long as it takes, and where are those words now?” He said.
“We’re dying every day.”
Avdiivka has been involved in violent conflict for months and has been a battleground town since 2014 when Russian-backed rebels took control of huge areas of eastern Donetsk and Luhansk provinces.
The fall of Avdiivka is the most significant development on the more than 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) battle line since Russian soldiers conquered the adjacent town of Bakhmut in May 2023.
Denis Pushilin, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, applauded Russia’s territorial gains.
“The Russian city of Avdiivka, one of the oldest settlements in Donbas, today returned home to Russia,” he declared in a Telegram video.
“On behalf of all residents of Donbas, I sincerely thank Russian military personnel, our army, and our president for the fact that the Donetsk People’s Republic continues to be liberated.”
Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, leader of the Ukrainian armed forces, announced the decision to leave early on Saturday, stating that he decided “to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of service personnel”.
“Our soldiers performed their military duty with dignity, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units, and inflicted significant losses on the enemy in terms of manpower and equipment,” he went on to say.
