KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian and Western leaders on Sunday welcomed a desperately needed aid package passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, as the Kremlin warned that passage of the bill would “further ruin” Ukraine and cause more deaths.
Ukrainian leaders and analysts say the long-awaited $61 billion military aid package — including $13.8 billion for Ukraine to buy weapons — will help slow Russia’s incremental advances in the war’s third year — but that more will likely be needed for Kyiv to regain the offensive.
The House swiftly approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had warned that his country would lose the war without U.S. funding, said that he was grateful for the decision of U.S. lawmakers.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Zelenskyy said that the aid package would “send the Kremlin a powerful signal that (Ukraine) will not be the second Afghanistan.”
Zelenskyy told NBC that the aid “has to end up in tangible weapon systems,” highlighting that Ukraine would prioritize long-range weapons and air defense. These, he said, would enable Ukraine to “break the plans of Russia” in an expected “full-scale offensive,” for which Ukrainian forces are preparing.
The aid package will go to the U.S. Senate, which could pass it as soon as Tuesday. U.S. President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.
It still could take weeks for it to reach the front line, where it is desperately needed.
Responding to a question on the timelines for Ukraine continuing to need such aid packages, the Ukrainian president drew attention to previous delays to promised support. “It depends on when we actually get weapons on the ground,” Zelenskyy told NBC.
“The decision to supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, we had it a year ago,” he said. “A year has passed. We still don’t have the jets in Ukraine.”
“With this we can stop (Russian troops) and reduce our losses,” said infantry soldier Oleksandr. He has been fighting around Avdiivka, the city in the Donetsk region that Ukraine lost to Russia in February after months of intense combat.
Ammunition shortages linked to the aid holdup over the past six months have led Ukrainian military commanders to ration shells, a…
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