Biden talks Republicans into conscience about helping Ukrainian Body Shop files for bankruptcy in Britain

US President Joe Biden has urged Republicans in the House of Representatives to stop blocking Congress from approving aid to Ukraine. Republican representatives in the House must decide whether to stand for freedom or tyranny, Biden said on Tuesday at the White House in Washington. They would have to decide whether they would be on the side of Ukraine or on the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin – on the side of America or on the side of former US President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, after months of wrangling, the US Senate approved a multibillion-dollar aid package for Ukraine, which was under attack by Russia. This draft now goes to the other chamber of parliament, the House of Representatives. It is highly questionable whether the package will get through. Republicans have a slim majority in the House of Representatives, and representatives of the party’s right-wing fringe – egged on by Trump – have long opposed further US aid to Kiev. They argued, among other things, that the US could not continue to spend money on a large scale so that Ukraine could defend its borders while there was an illegal migration crisis at the US borders.

The Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has already indicated that he may not put the bill to a vote at all. He apparently wants to prioritize legislation to secure the US border with Mexico. In the U.S. House of Representatives, the speaker largely has control over which bills are actually voted on in plenary.

The American economy benefits from support from Ukraine

Biden called on Johnson to immediately bring the Senate bill to a vote in the House of Representatives. The design can obtain a majority there. Johnson knows that too. “That is why I call on the chairman to let the entire House of Representatives have its say and not allow a minority of the most extreme voices (…) to block this bill.”

The US president warned that some Ukrainian units must now ration ammunition to continue defending themselves against Russia. He also reiterated that the US economy would ultimately benefit from further support from Ukraine, because the weapons and ammunition going to Kiev were manufactured in the US.

The US is considered Ukraine’s most important ally in the fight against the Russian invasion. Since the start of the war in February 2022, the Biden administration has provided or pledged more than 44 billion dollars (about 41 billion euros) in military aid to Kiev. At the end of December, the US Department of Defense announced the latest military aid package for Ukraine. Since then, Kiev has been waiting for new financial commitments and additional weapons and ammunition from the US. (sda/dpa)