Biden vows to help Ukraine despite latest budget deal

2023-10-02 08:45:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Biden vows to help Ukraine despite latest budget deal

US President, Joe Biden

US President Joe Biden has vowed to continue US support for Ukraine, although military funding for it has been excluded from a last-minute deal that avoided a shutdown of the US government.

This interim decision, adopted to avoid a shutdown, does not include $6 billion worth of military aid to Kiev – a top priority of the White House.

Hard-line Republicans oppose further military aid and criticize Biden's approach to the war.

But Biden said on Sunday that Ukraine can count on the support of the United States.

"We cannot, under any circumstances, allow the obstruction of US aid to Ukraine," Biden said.

"I can reconfirm [for Ukraine] that we will achieve this", he said, referring to the funds.

"I want to assure the American allies that you can count on our help, that we are not leaving anywhere."

So far, the United States has allocated more than $46 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its war in the country in February 2022.

President Biden has asked for an additional 24 billion dollars.

In recent months, the US has also launched long-range missiles and Abrams tanks into Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the forces of Kiev continue to fight in the counteroffensive, which according to experts, is developing at a slow pace in the south of the state.

In his statement before Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that no one should "turn off the stability of Ukraine".

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the war a "special military operation" to demilitarize Ukraine.

The West has responded to Russia, hitting the economy of this country with harsh sanctions.

As a result of the war, thousands of people have died and millions more have been displaced from their homes./ Rel