Reports indicated that President Joe Biden's administration has been preparing a new aid package for Ukraine that is worth around $1 billion. The legislation passed at the Senate on Tuesday night at 79-18, with 31 Republicans joining 48 Democrats to pass the legislation. The bill now awaits the president's signature at the White House.
In recent Congress briefings, administration officials have indicated that the U.S. will likely send Ukraine long-range ATACMS, or Army Tactical Missile Systems, for the first time as part of the new aid package, three of the sources familiar with the matter said as per CNN.
Upon learning about this, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Washington's hybrid war against Russia will turn into a humiliating fiasco as approval of a large aid package is the same as funding terrorism. In a post on her Telegram channel on Saturday, Zakharova said that the potential allocation of further military assistance not just to Ukraine, but also to Israel and Taiwan, would only aggravate the crisis in the world. "Military aid to the Kyiv regime is direct sponsorship of terrorist activities, funds sent to Taiwan is interference in the internal affairs of China, while aid sent to Israel is a straight way to the unprecedented escalation of a conflict in the region," she said.
Biden's regime is driving deeper into a hybrid war with Russia, Zakharova said in a separate statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry, adding that the U.S. would end up facing a "loud and humiliating fiasco on a par with Vietnam or Afghanistan." She added that the United States is ready to pump Ukraine with weapons so that Kyiv could fight to the last Ukrainian and continue terrorist acts against civil objects on Russian sovereign territory and civilians, as well as sabotage attacks and killings of journalists.
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In a separate briefing in Moscow on April 18, she expressed her disbelief in the U.S.'s continued support of Ukraine. "On April 9, 2024, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville said that the United States spends about $80,000 on Ukraine every second, that Washington can't afford this level of spending and should find more appropriate ways to use the taxpayers' money," she said. "We are aware that Ukraine is nothing other than a business project for the United States or, more precisely, for the ruling political elite. The most shocking thing is that no matter what ideas or ideology the current U.S. officials uphold they always speak about money, calculating human lives and the nation's future in U.S. dollars."
She cited Bradley Devlin of the American Conservative, who wrote that the Biden administration had "massively undercounted the Ukraine aid" and that "one of the worst kept secrets in Washington is that no one knows just how much money the United States has spent in support of Ukraine." According to her, the writer believes that "the current total of aid to Ukraine amounts to at least $125 billion."
Meanwhile, former Russian president and current deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said the approval of new aid to Ukraine was "Russophobic" and would exacerbate "the number of victims of this war." "I cannot with all sincerity wish the United States to plunge into a new civil war as quickly as possible," Medvedev said.
Will the military aid arrive in time? Zelensky says "The key now is speed"
A lot of Ukrainians are cheering for finally seeing hope in receiving the U.S. military aid package now that the legislation is just waiting for Biden's signature. But in the streets and trenches of Kyiv, people espoused a view shared by many Western military analysts: that much damage had already been done and that, while important and welcome, the $60 billion of supplies would only go so far in resolving Ukraine's problems. (Related: Zelensky complains about the West "turning a blind eye" toward Ukraine.)
According to Neil Melvin, the director of international security studies at the London-based think tank Royal United Services Institute, the aid is coming at a "vital moment" for the U.S. ally, which faces severe ammunition and personnel shortages that have left it in a desperate situation on the front lines over the last few months. "Russia is gradually grinding down Ukrainian men and weapons," Melvin told NBC News. "The U.S. supplies can slow this process and potentially blunt an expected Russian counter-offensive over the summer, but Ukraine will need much more if it is to defeat Russia and reclaim its occupied territories."
Meanwhile, in a call with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, Biden promised that his administration would move quickly to meet Kyiv's "urgent battlefield and air defense needs" as soon as the Senate passes the aid bill, which it overwhelmingly did Tuesday night.
The package is expected to include more equipment that the U.S. has already provided, including ammunition, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems or HIMARS, stingers, highly sought-after 155-mm artillery rounds, infantry fighting vehicles, Humvees, javelins and other military equipment. "The key now is speed," Zelenskyy said Wednesday. He also stated earlier that he had also finalized agreements on the supplies of long-range guided missiles called ATACMS, which Kyiv has long been seeking as part of its bid to strike deep behind Russian lines.
Check out WWIII.news for updates on the still ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
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