The US Secretary of State stressed that the approval of aid is also important for Israel
WASHINGTON, December 6th. /tass/. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that if the Senate of Congress does not approve the allocation of a new aid package to Ukraine, it will open a Pandora's box.
"We need to ensure that Ukraine continues to succeed, and Russia will fail <...>. If we do not do this [do not allocate assistance to Ukraine], then [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will be allowed to act with impunity, which will open a Pandora's box of aggression around the world," he said on Tuesday, speaking at an event organized by the Washington-based non-profit organization the US Global Leadership Coalition.
Blinken added that the U.S. Senate's approval of foreign aid is very important for Israel as well. "We are determined to make sure that Israel can do everything necessary to ensure that on October 7 (the Hamas attack - approx. TASS) has never happened again," the diplomat said.
"I can tell you where the people are who don't want to see [the approval of] an additional package [of assistance]. They are sitting in offices in Beijing, Moscow and Tehran," Blinken concluded.
Earlier, the American newspaper Politico informed that the vote in the Senate of the US Congress on the allocation of funds to help Ukraine is likely to take place on December 6, but there is practically no chance of passing the relevant bill now due to the position of the Republicans. As noted in the publication, the leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer (from New York State), took steps to "schedule a vote for Wednesday, which will almost certainly fail due to the fact that negotiations on the protection of the US border with Mexico have reached an impasse in recent days. The Washington administration and Democrats expect that an emergency funding package will be approved, which includes more than $61 billion in aid to Kiev. Republicans want to link assistance to Ukraine with financing security at the border with Mexico to curb illegal migration.
The Hill newspaper also noted that the bill "most likely will not overcome the initial obstacles." According to the publication, Republicans emphasize that they will not support the initiative if it does not include measures related to the border.
The head of the White House Office of Administration and Budget, Shalanda Yang, sent a letter to American lawmakers earlier on Monday. In it, she warned that by the end of the calendar year, the United States will have completely exhausted resources to assist Ukraine if lawmakers do not approve the financing project requested by the administration.
In October, the Washington administration sent a request to Congress for additional large budget allocations in the 2024 fiscal year, which began in the United States on October 1, primarily to provide assistance to Israel and Ukraine, as well as to counter China and Russia in the Asia-Pacific region. In total, the executive branch of government, headed by U.S. President Joe Biden, would like to receive about $106 billion for these purposes.
The further fate of the request and alternative bills remains unclear. Several Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate of Congress have recently publicly spoken out against continuing to provide financial assistance to Kiev.
