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The US House of Representatives has approved over $60bn in military aid for Ukraine in its fight against Russia, in a major breakthrough after months of inaction on Capitol Hill.
The Ukraine aid was part of a $95bn package of national security bills that also includes $26bn for Israel and $8bn for the Indo-Pacific region, as well as a bill that could result in TikTok being banned from US app stores.
The Ukraine bill passed the House on Saturday afternoon with 311 to 112, and 210 Democrats and 101 Republicans voting in favour. No Democrats voted against the aid package, while 112 Republicans voted against. Many Democratic lawmakers cheered and waved Ukrainian flags on the House floor as the result was announced.
US President Joe Biden said in a statement that Saturday’s vote sent a “clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage”.
“At this critical inflection point, [lawmakers] came together to answer history’s call, passing urgently needed national security legislation that I have fought for months to secure,” Biden said.
The aid comes at an important moment for Kyiv in its war against Russia’s invasion. Moscow’s troops have seized the initiative on the battlefield, exploiting Kyiv’s lack of arms and munitions after the failure of Ukraine’s counteroffensive last year and as US-supplied military assistance was blocked.
“The vital US aid bill passed today by the House will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement. “Just peace and security can only be attained through strength.”
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said it was “a bad day for Putin” and for anyone “who dared to believe that America could waver when it comes to defending what and who it stands for”.
The national security package includes a provision that would allow Ukraine to use funds from seized Russian assets to fund the war effort.
That prompted a sharp rebuke from the Kremlin, whose spokesman Dmitry Peskov vowed a response from Moscow.
“Of course, if this is really the case, then America will have to answer for it,” Peskov said. “And we will do this in a way that best suits our interests.”
A Ukrainian commander told the Financial Times near the frontline in the eastern Donetsk region this month that approval of the aid package was a matter of “life and death” for his troops. For months, they have been rationing their ammunition against Russian forces who have had a near 10-to-1 artillery advantage.
A western official told the FT on Friday that a significant portion of the weaponry was stored just across the Ukrainian border in Rzeszów, Poland, suggesting it could be rushed to Kyiv in short order.
Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg praised the passage of the bill in a statement on social network X. “Ukraine is using the weapons provided by Nato allies to destroy Russian combat capabilities,” he said. “This makes us all safer, in Europe and North America.”
The US Senate is expected to approve the package early next week. Biden on Saturday urged the Senate to act swiftly “so that I can sign it into law and we can quickly send weapons and equipment to Ukraine to meet their urgent battlefield needs”.
Saturday’s vote ends months of inaction in the House, where Johnson refused to take up a different $95bn national security supplemental aid bill that passed the Senate in February. Johnson faced opposition from isolationist Republicans who wield outsized influence in the divided Congress.
But Johnson, an ally of Donald Trump, faced mounting pressure to act in recent weeks, especially after Iran launched an attack last weekend on Israel, Washington’s closest ally in the Middle East.
The package has failed to win over Johnson’s hardline critics from within his own party, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, who are vehemently opposed to more aid for Ukraine. Greene has threatened to introduce a “motion to vacate”, which would trigger a vote of no confidence in the Speaker.
If that happens Johnson will almost certainly have to rely on Democratic support to keep the speakership. Democrats failed to come to the rescue of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy when he faced a rebellion last year, but have signalled in recent days that they are open to bailing out Johnson should he face a similar challenge.
Earlier this year, Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat, predicted there would be a “reasonable number” of House Democrats who think Johnson “should not fall”.
