KYIV, Ukraine – Ukrainian and Western leaders were welcomed on Sunday an urgently needed aid package The bill was passed by the US House of Representatives because the Kremlin warned that passing the law would “further ruin” Ukraine and cause more deaths.
Ukrainian leaders and analysts say the long-awaited $61 billion military aid package – including $13.8 billion for Ukraine's arms purchases – will help bolster Russia's gradual progress within the war's third yr decelerate – but that Kiev will probably need much more to resume the offensive.
The House of Representatives immediately agreed $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans united against renewed American support for defense after months of far-right opposition Russia's full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had warned that his country would lose the war without U.S. funding, said he was grateful for U.S. lawmakers' decision.
Speaking on NBC's “Meet the Press,” Zelensky said the help package would “send a strong signal to the Kremlin that (Ukraine) will not be the second Afghanistan.”
Zelensky told NBC that aid “must end in concrete weapons systems” and stressed that Ukraine would prioritize long-range weapons and air defense. This, he said, would allow Ukraine to “break Russia’s plans” in an expected “large-scale offensive” that Ukrainian forces are preparing for.
The aid package goes to the US Senate, which could pass it as early as Tuesday. US President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.
It could still be weeks before it reaches the front lines, where it’s urgently needed.
Responding to an issue concerning the deadlines during which Ukraine will proceed to wish such aid packages, the Ukrainian president responded to previous delays within the promised support. “It depends on when we actually have weapons on the ground,” Zelenskyy told NBC.
“We made the decision to supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine a year ago,” he said. “A year has passed. We still don’t have any jets in Ukraine.”
“With this we can stop (the Russian troops) and reduce our losses,” said infantryman Oleksandr. He fought for Avdiivka, the town within the Donetsk region of Ukraine lost to Russia in February after months of intense fighting.
Ammunition shortages linked to the help backlog over the past six months have led Ukrainian military commanders to ration grenades, a drawback that Russia exploited this yr by capturing the town of Avdiivka and is currently slowly moving toward the town of Khasiv Yar, also in Donetsk , moved towards.
“The Russians are coming at us in waves, we are exhausted and have to leave our positions. “This repeats itself many times,” Oleksandr told The Associated Press. For security reasons, he didn’t give his full name. “If we don’t have enough ammunition, we won’t be able to cover the area that is our responsibility to hold if they attack us.”
Many in Kiev welcomed the U.S. vote nearly as good news after a difficult period during which Russia made progress on the front lines and stepped up attacks on Ukraine's energy system and other infrastructure.
“I heard our president officially say that without this help we can lose the war. Thank you very much and yesterday was a great event,” said Kateryna Ruda, 43.
Tatyana Ryavchenuk, the wife of a Ukrainian soldier, pointed to the necessity for more weapons and complained that the soldiers “have nothing to protect us.”
“They need weapons, they need equipment, they need them. We always need help. Because without help, our enemy can advance further and be in the center of our city,” said the 26-year-old.
Other Western leaders who’ve struggled to search out ways to fill the gap left by stalled U.S. military aid also praised the help package.
“Ukraine is using weapons provided by NATO allies to destroy Russian combat capabilities. “This makes us all safer, in Europe and North America,” wrote NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on X.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “Ukraine deserves all the support it can get against Russia.”
Her statement was confirmed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who described it as “a strong signal in these times.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk thanked House Speaker Mike Johnson while citing the delay in Congress. “Better late than too late. And I hope it’s not too late for Ukraine,” he wrote on X.
In Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Saturday described the approval of aid to Ukraine as “expected and predictable.”
The decision “will make the United States of America richer, further ruin Ukraine and lead to the deaths of even more Ukrainians attributable to the Kiev regime,” Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Ria Novosti.
“The new aid package will not save, but on the contrary will kill thousands and thousands more people, prolong the conflict and bring even more grief and devastation,” Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, wrote on Telegram.
The Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said the logistics of getting US aid to the front lines would mean “Ukrainian forces could face further setbacks in the coming weeks as they wait for US security assistance, which will allow Ukraine to stabilize the situation.” Front page.”
“But they will likely be able to blunt the current Russian offensive, provided that resumed U.S. aid arrives promptly,” it said in its latest assessment of the conflict.
Olexiy Haran, a professor of comparative politics on the Mohlya Academy of Kyiv National University, said Ukraine is grateful for help from the United States and other Western countries, “but the issue is, frankly, it is just too late and never enough. “
“This is the third year of the war and we still have no aviation, no new aviation. We don't have enough rockets, so we can't close the sky. Besides, we haven’t even had artillery shells recently,” he said.
“That's why the situation was very, very difficult and the Russians took advantage of that to launch their counteroffensive, or offensive. That's why it's so important to us. And if we had received it six months earlier, we would definitely have saved the lives of many Ukrainians, including civilians.”
Matthew Savill, director of military science on the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said that while the assistance was welcome, it was “likely to only help stabilize Ukraine's situation for this year and with preparations for operations in 2025.” to begin.”
“Funding predictability through 2024 and 2025 will help Ukrainians plan for defense this yr, especially if European munitions shipments also arrive, but further planning and funding will probably be required for 2025, and by then we could have a U.S. election before.” he said.
Locally, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that its troops had taken control of the village of Bohdanivka within the Donetsk region. Ukrainian officials haven’t yet commented on the announcement.
According to the prosecutor's office within the partially occupied Ukrainian region of Donetsk, one person was killed and 4 other people were injured in Russian shelling in Ukrainsk.
Two suspects were arrested on Sunday after two Ukrainian soldiers killed a police officer at a checkpoint in Ukraine's Vinnytsia region.
The soldiers opened fire on 20-year-old Maksym Zaretskyi within the early hours of Saturday morning after he stopped their automotive for a routine inspection. Zaretskyi's partner was injured but survived the attack.
Ukrainian National Police chief Ivan Vyhovsky said on Sunday that the suspects – a father and son aged 52 and 26 – were arrested in Ukraine's Odessa region.
Elise Morton reported from London. Vasilisa Stepanenko and Jill Lawless contributed to this report from Kyiv.
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