US President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged Congress to approve new funding for Ukraine, warning that if Russian leader Vladimir Putin wins, the war “will not stop.”
“We can’t let Putin win,” he said on the same day the Democratic-majority Senate voted to approve a $105 billion spending package that includes more than $61 billion in military aid for the Ukrainians.
The appropriateness of authorizing more military aid to Ukraine has been debated in Congress for months. Many Republicans question whether the US should continue funding a war that has already cost over $75 billion.
“I’m willing to make significant compromises on the border. We need to fix the broken border system. It is broken. And thus far I’ve gotten no response,” said Biden in a televised statement at the White House.
The White House warned on Monday that by the end of the year, the US government would run out of money to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia and will also run out of funds to buy more weapons and equipment for Kyiv.
On Wednesday, the State Department announced a new $175 million aid package, which includes ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. The funds were part of a previously approved package.
“Let me be clear: We need real solutions. I support real solutions at the border. I put forward a comprehensive plan the first day I came into office. I’ve made it clear that we need Congress to make changes,” added the head of state.
Biden said that he is even willing to talk about “a policy change,” stressing that he has called for funding for more border agents and judges and that it is up to the Republicans to decide if they really want a solution on the border with Mexico.
Hours before the Senate voted on the new package, the President warned that Republicans were eager to give Putin “the greatest gift he can hope for”: to see the United States abandoning its global leadership.
“We’ve all seen the brutality that Putin has inflicted on Ukraine: invading another country; trying to subjugate his neighbors to his iron rule; committing atrocities — atrocities against Ukrainian civilians; trying to plunge them into the cold and darkness of winter by bombing their electrical grid,” said Biden
By Nadeem Faisal Baiga
