President Biden signed an aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after it received bipartisan support in Congress. Courtesy: Doug Mills/The New York Times
President of America, Mr Biden said on Wednesday that weapons would start to flow to Ukraine “within hours” as he signed a $95.3 billion package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, reaffirming U.S. support for Kyiv after months of congressional gridlock put the centrepiece of the White House’s foreign policy in jeopardy, the New York Times reported.
In the presidential remarks from the White House, Mr. Biden said the foreign aid package would strengthen national security.
“It’s going to make the world safer,” he said. “And it continues America’s leadership in the world, and everyone knows it.”
The Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve the package on Tuesday night after increasingly divisive politics raised questions on Capitol Hill and among U.S. allies about whether the United States would continue to back Kyiv against Russia’s military assault. The 79-to-18 vote provided Mr. Biden with another legislative accomplishment to point to, even in the face of an obstructionist House.
The Pentagon said it would rush the first $1 billion in aid to Ukraine, including shoulder-fired Stinger surface-to-air missiles and other air defence munitions, 155-millimetre shells, Javelin anti-tank guided missiles and cluster munitions.
“In the next few hours — literally, the few hours — we’re going to begin sending in equipment to Ukraine,” Mr. Biden said.
But even as he praised the infusion of funding on Wednesday, Mr. Biden said the process should have “been easier and should have gotten there sooner.”
“It was a difficult path,” he said. “But in the end, we did what America always does. We rose to the moment.”
拜登簽署向烏克蘭、以色列和台灣提供953億美元援助法案，表示武器將在幾小時內開始流向烏克蘭
美國總統拜登週三表示，武器將在「幾個小時內」開始流向烏克蘭，他簽署了向烏克蘭、以色列和台灣提供953 億美元的一攬子援助計劃，重申了美國對基輔的支持，此前數月的國會僵局使這一問題成為焦點據《紐約時報》報道，白宮的外交政策正處於危險之中。
拜登在白宮發表的總統演說中表示，對外援助計畫將加強國家安全。
「這將使世界變得更加安全，」他說。 “它延續了美國在世界上的領導地位，這是眾所周知的。”
週二晚上，參議院以壓倒性多數票通過了該計劃，此前日益分裂的政治在國會山莊和美國盟友中引發了關於美國是否會繼續支持基輔反對俄羅斯軍事襲擊的疑問。 即使面對眾議院的阻撓，79 比 18 的投票為拜登先生提供了另一項立法成就。
五角大廈表示，將緊急向烏克蘭提供首批 10 億美元援助，包括肩扛式毒刺地對空飛彈和其他防空彈藥、155 毫米砲彈、標槍反坦克飛彈和集束彈藥。
「在接下來的幾個小時內——字面上的幾個小時內——我們將開始向烏克蘭運送設備，」拜登說。
但儘管拜登對週三的資金注入表示讚揚，但他表示這一過程應該「更容易，而且應該更早實現」。
「這是一條艱難的道路，」他說。 「但最終，我們做了美國一貫做的事情。 我們站到了這一刻。
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