Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that the US’s adversaries such as Russia, Iran, and China would be “happy” if the White House aid bill to support Ukraine and Israel stalls in Congress, as per The Hill.
“I think the only people who’d be happy if the supplemental budget request is not voted on and approved by Congress are sitting in Moscow, sitting in Tehran, sitting in Beijing,” the official said.
Blinken emphasized that US funding is vital for Ukraine, which made “remarkable progress over the last year and pushing back Russian aggression, taking back more than 50 percent of the territory that was seized since February of 2022.”
Last week, Republicans blocked a bill to provide aid to Ukraine and Israel due to a lack of border provisions in the measure.
Blinken also noted that a majority of the assistance in the aid request goes right to US manufacturers and called on Congress to approve funding to Ukraine.
“This is a time to really step up. Because if we don’t, we know what happens, Putin will be able to move forward with impunity. And we know he won’t stop in Ukraine. And he may well end up going after a NATO country that would bring us in given our obligations to our NATO allies,” he claimed.
Read also:
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- Financial Times: US Congress is far from passing Biden’s $106 billion request for security aid to Ukraine and Israel
- White House: Current US funds for Ukraine are 96% depleted
- Reuters: US Senate Democrats block bill on split aid package to Ukraine and Israel
- Pentagon: Looming US government shutdown could disrupt Ukraine aid (updated)
