President Biden to aid $33bn to help Ukraine

President Biden asked Congress for military, economic, and humanitarian help to support Ukraine. However, he insisted that the US was not attacking Russia.

Biden said that US lawmakers needed to approve the deal. This would help Ukraine defend itself. The proposal included more than $20billion in military aid. $8.5 billion in economic aid and $3billion in humanitarian aid. Mr. Biden stated that it’s not cheap. But caving to aggression is going to be costlier if we allow it to happen.

Although the US already announced help for Ukraine. The proposals are a significant ramping up of aid. President Biden said that US military support to Ukraine has so far amounted to 10 anti-tank weapons. This is for every tank that Russia has deployed to Ukraine.

He said that the US was not attacking Russia. Instead, he insisted that We are helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s aggression. A spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Western military support for Ukraine threatens the security of the continent.

President Biden wants to show that he is not afraid of threats of the possible use of nuclear weapons. However, the announcement of the new Ukraine package comes at a difficult time for the US economy. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released data. According to the data, the Us economy shrank in the first quarter of 2022.

The gross domestic product declined by 1.4 % between January and March. But the package is likely to get approved by lawmakers. Congress seems to have unlimited willingness to bankroll military support for Ukraine. President Biden’s first funding request got approved by Congress.

The white House even proposed to sell Russian oligarchs’ assets and transfer their proceeds to Ukraine. Western allies, including European Union member states, have been working together to track down the assets of Russian elites. Canada’s government also proposed legislation this week that would allow it to seize and sell Russian assets.

Credits: BBC