Biden urged not to cut off aid to Ukraine
the U.S. president approved a continuing funding bill passed by both houses of Congress aimed at averting a government shutdown.
US President Joe Biden has reacted to the adoption of a budget to fund US government agencies for 45 days without aid to Ukraine and urged politicians not to stop helping the country, which is fighting Russian aggression. The White House said in a statement .
We can under no circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted," he pointed out.
He noted that while the Speaker and the vast majority of Congress have been unwavering in their support for Ukraine, there is no new funding in this agreement to continue that support.
I am quite hopeful that the Speaker will stick to his commitment to the people of Ukraine and provide the support necessary to help Ukraine at this critical moment," the White House chief stressed.
We would like to point out that there was a risk of a government shutdown in the USA due to the position of far-right Republicans, who blocked the adoption of budget bills for the next fiscal year, demanding to cut, in their opinion, unnecessary spending. They also opposed additional aid to Ukraine.
The White House, for its part, tried to at least include a compromise six billion dollars for Ukraine by mid-November, but failed.
In order to avoid a "shutdown", which was to take place on 1 October, yesterday, 30 September, the House of Representatives approved temporary funding for the government.
US President Joe Biden signed the bill to extend funding for the US government for 45 days after its approval by the Senate.
In his turn, the speaker of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Oleh Nikolenko, said that the temporary US budget would in no way stop the flow of aid to Ukraine, which was announced earlier.
The situation with the temporary US budget will not stop the flow of aid to Ukraine, which was announced earlier. Now it is about 1.6bn dollars for defence and 1.23bn dollars of direct budget support, as well as funds for humanitarian and energy projects," he pointed out.
Nikolenko stressed that the government is working with US partners to ensure that the new budget decision of the states, which will be worked out over the next 45 days, includes funds for assistance to Ukraine.
Thesupport for Ukraine remains unwaveringly strong both in the US administration, in both parties and chambers of the US Congress, and most importantly among the American people," the Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed.