US House passes sweeping government funding bill with $13.6 billion in Ukraine aid

The US House of Representative has voted to pass a massive government funding bill that includes $13.6 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine following Russia’s military operation there.

The sweeping $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package was passed on Wednesday night hours after lawmakers scrapped billions in funding to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had earlier announced that she would remove a $15.6 billion COVID-19 aid provision from the omnibus spending bill in a bid to allocate the money to provide emergency aid for Ukraine.

US Democrats omit COVID-19 funding from omnibus spending package to help Ukraine

Nancy Pelosi has announced that she would remove a $15.6 billion COVID-19 aid provision from the omnibus spending bill in a bid to allocate the money to provide emergency aid for Ukraine.

The new bill received bipartisan support and passed 361-69. The House approved the non-defense portion of the package 260-171, with one member voting present.

Of the $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine, $6.5 billion will be allocated for military assistance, setting aside $3.5 billion to help arm Ukrainians and allied forces in the region with US military stocks, and another $3 billion to support the deployment of more US troops and materials to Europe.

The price tag of the package has ballooned from $6.4 billion, the initial request from the White House. However, Pelosi indicated that the $13.6 billion is likely to be just the tip of a much broader aid effort.

Lawmakers in both parties have been willing to help arm the Ukrainian military, and that appetite only grew after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Congress members last weekend and pleaded for additional jets and weapons.

US Congress reaches deal on billions in Ukraine aid

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has announced a deal between the two parties to provide $14 bn in additional assistance to Ukraine.

Pelosi, who had spoken to Zelensky, said, “What he did ask for was help in the rebuilding of Ukraine.”

“All of us are going to help in the rebuilding,” said, adding, “All of us will have to do more.” She was mainly referring to the United States and its NATO allies.

On 24 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military operation in Ukraine after Kiev failed to implement the Minsk agreements and resolve the conflict in Donbass peacefully.

Putin said that Russia was left with no other choice but to act after weeks of shelling of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) by Ukrainian forces. He thus ordered Russian forces to demilitarize Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden, who called the Russian action an "unprovoked and unjustified attack," authorized a $350 million package of weapons earlier this month that included Javelin antitank missiles and Stinger antiaircraft missiles as well as small arms and munitions.

Separately on Wednesday, the chamber also approved a bill to ban the import of Russian oil and energy products one day after Biden signed an executive order to the same effect.

The measure would also direct the Biden administration to contemplate taking steps to suspend Russia from the World Trade Organization and expand on language in the Magnitsky Act -- a sanctions law approved by Congress in 2012 -- to permit the administration to impose more sanctions on Russian officials and individuals linked to the war in Ukraine.

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