– I want to do that so that we can start sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week, he says in a statement from the White House.
Senators in the United States voted late on Tuesday evening local time for a comprehensive aid package for Ukraine, after several months of tug-of-war between Democrats and Republicans.
Also read: The most important vote
The vote in the Senate ended with 79 to 18 votes. The decision also includes support for Israel and Taiwan – and a possible TikTok ban.
Even before the reading of the votes was finished, it became clear that there were enough yes votes to adopt the aid packages.
The broad bipartisan support is being referred to as a major victory for President Joe Biden.
The support package for Ukraine is 61 billion dollars, which corresponds to just over 670 billion kroner.
Zelenskyy thanks the US
The United States has been the most important military supporter of Ukraine in the war against the Russian invasion, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said several times that he hopes the support continues.
– I am grateful to the US Senate for approving important aid to Ukraine today, he writes on X.
– Ukraine’s long-range capabilities, artillery and air defense are crucial tools for restoring peace more quickly, he adds.
48 Democrats and 31 Republicans voted for the aid package, while 15 Republicans and three Democrats voted against.
– If we do not help Ukraine now, the war will spread, and Americans who are not involved will become involved, says prominent Republican Lindsey Graham to AP.
He is among the Republicans who voted yes to the proposal after previously voting no.
Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer describes the approval as very important.
– Western democracies are possibly facing the biggest threat since the end of the Cold War, he said before the vote.
Afterwards, he said the following, according to CNN:
– Finally, finally, finally. Tonight, I hope Vladimir Putin regrets the day he cast doubt on America’s resolve.
The Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, has also worked to get the package approved.
– The delay in giving Ukraine weapons to defend itself has made it more difficult to fight the Russian aggression, he says.
Against Israel support
At the same time as the support for Ukraine, the Senate decided that Taiwan can get a support package of 8.1 billion dollars, while Israel gets military support of 13 billion dollars.
The aid package for Israel includes just over 9 billion dollars in humanitarian aid to Gaza and other vulnerable groups and 3.6 billion to strengthen Israel’s security.
– This will make our country safer and the world safer, since we support our friends who defend themselves against terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin, Biden writes about the bill.
Bernie Sanders, one of the three Democratic senators who voted against the aid package, says he did so because of his support for Israel.
– Israel has no right to go to war against the entire Palestinian population, which is exactly what they are doing, he said according to the Washington Post.
Possible TikTok ban
The support for the three countries was presented as one package. A fourth proposal has also been baked in there, which opens up the possibility that selling the app TikTok in the US could be banned.
TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance will have around nine months to sell the app if it is not to be banned, the Washington Post writes.
The social media TikTok has over 170 million users in the US, and the bill that has now been approved in the Senate poses the biggest threat to the app’s operation to date, writes the newspaper.
