WASHINGTON ( AP ) — , President Joe Biden , signed into law Wednesday , a$ 95 billion war aid measure , that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that also includes a provision that would force social media site TikTok to be sold or be banned in U. S.
The statement puts an end to a long, agonizing debate between Republicans in Congress over desperately needed support for Ukraine.
” We rose to the minute. we came along. and we completed it,” Biden said at a White House press conference to formally declare the signing. ” Then we need to move quickly, and we are”,
During the cash crisis that dates back to August, when the Democratic leader made his first urgent saving demand for Ukrainian assistance, major damage has been done to the Biden administration’s effort to help Ukraine repel Russia’s brutal war. It’s doubtful that Ukraine will instantly regain its composure despite receiving a burst of fresh ammunition.
Biden said the exchange of an first aid item of , defense assistance , will start in a matter of time — the second round from about$ 61 billion allocated for Ukraine, according to U. S. leaders. To help Ukrainian forces, who have seen morale dip as Russian President Vladimir Putin has racked up win after win, are expected to have air defense capabilities, artillery rounds, armored vehicles, and other weapons.
However, it is still uncertain whether Ukraine can make enough progress to sustain American political support before burning through the most recent influx of funding, after months of losses in Eastern Ukraine and serious damage to its infrastructure.
According to White House national security spokesman John Kirby, who spoke in reference to the eastern industrial heartland where Ukraine has experienced setbacks,” It’s not going in the Ukrainians ‘ favor in the Donbass, certainly not elsewhere in the country.” ” Mr. Putin thinks he can play for time. So we need to try to make up some of that time.
Russia now appears focused on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city. Russian forces have exploited air , defense shortages in the city, pummeling the region’s energy infrastructure, and looking to shape conditions , for a potential summer offensive , to seize the city.
Members of his party’s extreme right wing, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, threatened to move to oust him if he allowed a vote to send more aid to Ukraine, which has delayed a vote on the supplemental aid package for months. Those threats persist.
Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Senate Minority, claimed that the Republicans ‘ continued opposition to the funding might have a long-term impact on Ukraine’s chances of winning the war.
” Make no mistake: Delay in providing Ukraine the weapons to defend itself has strained the prospects of defeating Russian aggression”, McConnell said Tuesday. ” The challenges we face have been compounded by dithering and reluctance.”
Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive 2024 presidential GOP nominee, has complained that European allies have not done enough for Ukraine. While he did n’t support the supplemental funding package, his tone has changed in recent days, acknowledging that the United States value the Ukrainian’s survival.
Indeed, many European leaders have long expressed concern that a second Trump presidency would lead to lessening U.S. support for Ukraine and NATO. The European anxiety was heightened in February when Trump in a campaign speech warned , NATO allies , that he “would encourage” Russia ,” to do whatever the hell they want”  , to countries that do n’t meet defense spending goals if he returns to the White House.
It was a crucial moment in the debate over how much money was going to Ukraine. NATO Secretary- General Jens Stoltenberg quickly called out Trump for putting ,” American and European soldiers at increased risk” . , Biden days later called Trump’s comments , “dangerous” and “un- American”  , and accused Trump of playing into Putin’s hands.
In reality, the White House’s campaign to woo Ukraine into funding had already begun months prior.
Biden used a rare prime time address to make his pitch for the additional funding the day after returning from a whirlwind trip to Tel Aviv following Hamas militants ‘ stunning attack on Israel on October 7.
At the time, the House was in chaos because the Republican majority had been , unable to select a speaker , to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who had been ousted more than two weeks earlier. McCarthy’s agreement to allow federal spending levels, which many in his right flank wanted undone, came after he earlier in the year.
Republicans on the far right have also made a staunch opposition to funding the conflict in Ukraine, which has the appearance of having no near-term resolution. Biden in August requested more than$ 20 billion to keep aid flowing into Ukraine, but the money was stripped out of , a must- pass spending bill , even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Washington to make , a personal plea , for continued U. S. backing.
By late October, Republicans finally settled on Johnson, a low- profile Louisiana Republican whose thinking on Ukraine was opaque, to serve as the next speaker. Biden made a long, largely behind-the-scenes effort to bring the matter to a vote after receiving a congratulations call from Johnson and urging him to pass quickly the aid to Ukraine.
In private conversations with Johnson, Biden, and White House officials, Biden and Biden discussed the risks facing Europe if Ukraine were to fall to Russia. National security adviser Jake Sullivan, who was formally elected speaker, gave Johnson a report on the administration’s strategy toward Ukraine and assured him that accountability measures were in place in Ukraine to track where the aid was going, in an effort to address a common complaint from conservatives.
White House officials avoided directly criticizing Johnson over the stalled aid, a rule the president repeatedly instilled in his senior staff, on explicit orders from Biden himself.
According to a senior administration official, Johnson came off as direct and an honest actor throughout the negotiations. Prior to winning the passage of a , a$ 1 trillion infrastructure deal,  , legislation to boost the U.S. semiconductor industry,  , and an expansion of federal health care services for veterans exposed to toxic smoke from burn pits, Biden had success finding common ground with Republicans earlier in his term. And he was aware that there was plenty of Republican support for additional funding for Ukraine.
At frustrating moments during the negotiations, Biden urged his aides to” just keep talking, keep working”, according to the official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal discussions.
So they did. The president’s top aides, seated around a large oval table in Zients ‘ office, would brainstorm possible ways to better make the case about Ukraine’s dire situation in the absence of aid at a daily meeting convened by White House chief of staff Jeff Zients.
Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, and legislative affairs director Shuwanza Goff were in regular contact with Johnson. Additionally, Johnson and Goff spoke frequently as a deal came into focus.
Johnson and his various requests were also accommodated by the White House. For instance, administration officials at the speaker’s request briefed Reps. Chip Roy, R- Texas, and Ralph Norman, R- S. C. — two conservatives who were persistent antagonists of Johnson.
Senior Biden officials kept up with Rep. Michael McCaul and Mike Turner as well as McConnell and other key Republican committee members.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D- N. Y., said Biden’s instincts to resist pressuring Johnson proved correct.
Joe Biden “has a very good sense of when to heavily intervene and when to try to shape things,” Schumer said.
In order to strengthen ties between Russia and its allies China, North Korea, and Iran, the administration used a strategy of downgrading intelligence in public to fortify Moscow’s defense industrial complex and circumvent U.S. and European sanctions.
For example, U. S. officials this month laid out intelligence findings that showed , China has surged sales  , to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow in turn is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry. Earlier, the White House publicized intelligence that Russia has acquired ballistic missiles from , North Korea , and has acquired attack drones from , Iran.
According to military experts, Kyiv will need much more than the$ 61 billion to triage Ukrainian forces for a fight that might last years.
According to Bradley Bowman, a defense strategy and policy analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, the realistic goals for Ukraine and its allies for the months ahead include avoiding the loss of major cities, stifling Russia’s momentum, and providing additional weapons to Kyiv that might help them launch an offensive in 2025.
” In our microwave culture, we tend to want immediate results”, Bowman said. And occasionally, things just are hard and you ca n’t get immediate results. I think Ukrainian success is not guaranteed, but Russian success is if we stop supporting Ukraine”.
