The US leader reassures Americans that Washington will keep supporting Kiev as critics insist the country has more urgent priorities
President Joe Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, October 1, 2023 © AP / Manuel Balce Ceneta
US President Joe Biden has urged the Congress to “stop playing games” and vote on a separate aid package for Ukraine as soon as possible to ensure that American support for Ukraine remains uninterrupted, after all new funding for Kiev was dropped from a stopgap bill that averted the government shutdown.
Speaking from the White House on Sunday after signing the last-minute government funding package that omitted assistance to Ukraine, Biden said that he expected the Republican House Speaker Keven McCarthy to “keep his commitment to secure passage and support needed to help Ukraine.”
“We have time, not much time, and there’s an overwhelming sense of urgency,” stressed Biden, “Stop playing games, get this done.”
“And I want to assure our American allies and the American people and the people of Ukraine that you can count on our support. We will not walk away,” he added.
However, critics long argued that Americans have more important priorities to worry about, and that Washington should have stronger safeguards against the misappropriation of the funds and supplies it sends to Kiev. Many lawmakers noted that winning approval for Ukraine assistance in the Congress is proving increasingly difficult.
Kevin McCarthy, the House GOP leader, said that while he remains committed to helping Ukraine, the US own security issues should be a “bigger priority for US lawmakers.”
“The American border matters and more Americans are dying on our border than Americans are dying in Ukraine,” said McCarthy in an interview with CBS on Sunday, and suggested that future financial packages for Ukraine must contain provisions to ensure American border security.
Washington has provided Ukraine with at least $46 billion in military supplies alone since the escalation of the conflict, in addition to many billions in other kinds of financial aid.
The head of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, Aleksey Danilov, suggested that the West should tell Kiev exactly how long it is planning to support it, as Kiev’s backers have been unable to clearly define what their “as long as it takes” pledges mean.
The EU top diplomat insisted that the bloc’s military aid to Ukraine will not depend on the decisions taken by the US. Brussels plans to continue and further increase its military assistance to the Ukrainian forces, Josep Borrell, told journalists during his visit to Kiev on Sunday.
