Biden apologizes for delay in approving aid for Ukraine at meeting with Zelenskyy: "We are not going to walk away from you"
During a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Joe Biden apologized for the delay in the supply of military aid to Ukraine.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to CNN.
"I apologize for the weeks of not knowing what’s going to pass, in terms of funding, because we had trouble getting the bill that we had to pass that had the money from some of our very conservative members who were holding it up, but we got it done." the US leader said.
Biden stressed that the US would continue to support Ukraine.
"You know, you haven't bowed down, you haven't given in at all, you continue to fight in a way that is just amazing, just wonderful - and we're not going to walk away from you," he added.
US Congress approves aid for Ukraine
The adoption of the Ukraine aid bill has been ongoing in the US Congress since October 2023. At that time, the White House submitted a budget request to Congress that included funding for additional spending to help Ukraine in the amount of about $61.4 billion. However, the issue was not put to a vote due to the position of some Republican congressmen and personally Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
In February 2024, the U.S. Senate approved a joint bill on aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, but House Speaker Mike Johnson refused to put it to a vote.
In April 2024, Mike Johnson proposed his own four separate bills to Congress - on aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and on US national security issues.
On April 20, the US House of Representatives passed a bill on financing assistance to Ukraine. The Congress also supported the confiscation of frozen Russian assets in the United States for Ukraine and voted to extend anti-Russian sanctions.
On April 23, the document was supported by the US Senate and sent to the president for signature.
On 24 April, US President Joe Biden signed bills to help Ukraine. The same day, the Pentagon announces a new $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine.
