The U.S. Senate passed a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine, of which about $20 billion will be used specifically to military needs.
86 Senators voted "for" and 11 voted "against". 3 Senators did not participate in the voting.
Now the bill should come to the table of U.S. President Joe Biden, who has been requiring for two weeks to approve money for Ukraine, because he is running out of them.
The U.S. legislators, let us recall, were forced to pass the bill through a long procedure, because the short one was blocked by the Republican Rand Paul, who is called a pro-Russian politician. In total, 11 Republican Senators later spoke out against such an amount of aid.
We figured out what exactly these $40 billion will be used for:
- $19.7 billion — will be send to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine;
- $6 billion — will go to direct aid to Kyiv;
- $4 billion — foreign military funding for Ukraine and other countries affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine (this money will be used to purchase weapons);
- $8.8 billion — economic aid to Ukraine;
- $4.35 billion — will go to overcome the global food crisis and humanitarian aid (administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development);
- $700 million — will also be given to the U.S. Department of State to overcome the global food crisis.
Among other things, the funds include aid to NATO allies who provide military assistance to Ukraine, reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, documenting war crimes, and protecting against nuclear leaks in case they occur.
According to the text of the Act, the following institutions will get funding:
- the Department of Justice,
- the Department of Defense,
- the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
- the Department of Health and Human Services,
- the Department of State,
- the U.S. Agency for International Development,
- the Department of Agriculture, and
- the Department of the Treasury.
Among other things, the bill provides for the following:
- defense equipment;
- migration and refugee assistance;
- regulatory and technical support on nuclear energy issues; emergency food aid;
- economic assistance and confiscation of property related to the invasion.
Context.
- Recall that in late April, the U.S. Congress passed a historic Act on Lend-Lease for Ukraine.
- On May 9, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Lend-Lease Act, which at one time helped the USSR win the war.
