Joe Biden signs legislation to provide aid packages to Taiwan, Israel, and the Ukraine

Washington: US President Joe Biden signed legislation on Wednesday that authorized Ukraine to receive much-needed military help, promising to start providing fresh support to Kyiv in a matter of hours.
After months of delay, during which Ukrainian soldiers ran out of ammunition and experienced defeats on the battlefield, the $95 billion package was finally passed. It also contains help for Israel and Taiwan and a prospective ban on TikTok in the US.

 

“I just signed into law the national security package that was passed by the House of Representatives this weekend and by the Senate yesterday,” reported Biden, “making sure the shipments start right away, in the next few hours.”

“It’s going to make America safer, it’s going to make the world safter and it continues American leadership in the world and everyone knows it,” Biden said on the measure.

“It gives vital support to America’s partners so they can defend themselves against threats to their sovereignty and to the lives and freedoms of their citizens.”

Only after months of bitter discussion among politicians about how or even whether to assist Ukraine—which Russia invaded in February 2022—defend itself did the aid measure pass the House of Representatives.

Prior to a swift turnaround, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, responding to requests from former President Donald Trump and his hardline supporters, had been pressing Biden for immigration policy concessions. This had caused a similar assistance package to stall in the house.

Although Congress has not authorized significant money for Kyiv in over a year and a half, the United States has been a major military supporter of Ukraine. The financing of the conflict has become a contentious issue ahead of the presidential election in November.

The military in Ukraine is severely lacking in both arms and recruits as a result of Moscow’s persistent push from the east, and conditions on the front lines are predicted to become worse over the next several weeks.