U.S. aid to Ukraine: Senate voted to begin debates on bill

Photo: The Senate voted to begin debate on the aid bill for Ukraine (Getty Images)

The U.S. Senate has voted to begin debates on a bill that includes allocating around 95 billion dollars in aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, reports The Hill.

On Friday evening, the Senate supported the start of debates with a vote of 64 in favor and 19 against. Fourteen Republicans joined Democrats and two independents to officially initiate debates under the law.

Schumer said that Friday’s vote “keeps the process of passing the emergency national security package moving forward on the Senate floor.” He asked Republican colleagues to work with him to reach an agreement on amendments to move this bill forward as quickly as possible.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urged his colleagues to support the bill, reminding them that it is their “responsibility” to ensure common defense and provide the Commander-in-Chief with tools to demonstrate strength.

After the debates, the bill will be brought to a final vote again. To pass it, at least 60 votes “For” are required, and since Democrats have only 51, the support of at least 9 more Republicans will be needed.

What preceded

At the end of October 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden addressed the American Congress with a request to allocate over $105 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Ukraine, within this request, is expected to receive over $60 billion. However, Biden’s request faced strong opposition from Republicans in the House of Representatives of Congress.

Later, on February 8th, the U.S. Senate supported the initiation of consideration of a bill to support Ukraine and Israel during a procedural vote. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that it was a “bad day for Putin,” but the final decision is still far from certain.