![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/us-russia.jpg\")
KYIV: Ukrainian and Western leaders welcomed a desperately needed aid package passed by the US House of Representatives, as the Kremlin claimed the passage of the bill would \u201cfurther ruin\u201d Ukraine and cause more deaths.<\/p>\nKYIV: Ukrainian and Western leaders welcomed a desperately needed aid package passed by the US House of Representatives, as the Kremlin claimed the passage of the bill would \u201cfurther ruin\u201d Ukraine and cause more deaths.<\/p>\n
The House swiftly approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other US allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia\u2019s invasion.<\/p>\n
With an overwhelming vote, the $61 billion in aid for Ukraine passed in a matter of minutes. Many Democrats cheered on the House floor and waved Ukrainian flags.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who had warned that his country would lose the war without US funding, said that he was grateful for the decision of US lawmakers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe appreciate every sign of support for our country and its independence, people and way of life, which Russia is attempting to bury under the rubble,\u201d he wrote on social media site X.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerica has demonstrated its leadership since the first days of this war. Exactly this type of leadership is required to maintain a rules-based international order and predictability for all nations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian president noted that his country\u2019s \u201cwarriors on the front lines\u201d would feel the benefit of the aid package.
\nOne such \u201cwarrior\u201d is infantry soldier Oleksandr, fighting around Avdiivka, the city in the Donetsk region that Ukraine lost to Russia in February after months of intense combat.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us it\u2019s so important to have this support from the US and our partners,\u201d Oleksandr told The Associated Press. He did not give his full name for security reasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this we can stop them and reduce our losses. It\u2019s the first step to have the possibility to liberate our territory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ammunition shortages linked to the aid holdup over the past six months have led Ukrainian military commanders to ration shells, a disadvantage that Russia seized on this year \u2014 taking the city of Avdiivka and currently inching toward the town of Chasiv Yar, also in the Donetsk region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Russians come at us in waves \u2014 we become exhausted, we have to leave our positions. This is repeated many times,\u201d Oleksandr said. \u201cNot having enough ammunition means we can\u2019t cover the area that is our responsibility to hold when they are assaulting us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other Western leaders lauded the passing of the aid package.<\/p>\n
\u201cUkraine is using the weapons provided by NATO Allies to destroy Russian combat capabilities. This makes us all safer, in Europe & North America,\u201d NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on X.<\/p>\n
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that \u201cUkraine deserves all the support it can get against Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Russia, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the approval of aid to Ukraine \u201cexpected and predictable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision \u201cwill make the United States of America richer, further ruin Ukraine and result in the deaths of even more Ukrainians, the fault of the Kyiv regime,\u201d Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Ria Novosti.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new aid package will not save, but, on the contrary, will kill thousands and thousands more people, prolong the conflict, and bring even more grief and devastation,\u201d Leonid Slutsky, head of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs, wrote on Telegram.<\/p>\n
The whole aid package will go to the US Senate, which could pass it as soon as Tuesday. President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV: Ukrainian and Western leaders welcomed a desperately needed aid package passed by the US House of Representatives, as the Kremlin claimed the passage of the bill would \u201cfurther ruin\u201d Ukraine and cause more deaths. The House swiftly approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other US allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia\u2019s invasion. With an overwhelming vote, the $61 billion in aid for Ukraine passed in a matter…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":661115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47748],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-661114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661114"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":661116,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661114\/revisions\/661116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}