Biden signs $40 bn Ukraine aid package

US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a bill that provides nearly $40 billion of additional humanitarian and military aid for Ukraine, in a move that prioritizes assistance for Kyiv over fight against the coronavirus in the world's worst-hit country, Press TV reported.

The White House said in a statement that the mammoth package for Ukraine will include security, humanitarian, and economic assistance. Biden signed the bill while on his maiden trip to Asia, days after the Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass it.

The latest package brings the total US aid that Congress has approved for Ukraine this year to nearly $54 billion.

Ukraine has been at war with Russia since President Vladimir Putin declared a military operation in the neighboring country in late February, following Kyiv’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

At the time, Putin said one of the goals of what he called a “special military operation” was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

Ever since, Washington has sent heavy weaponry to Ukraine and shared intelligence with the embattled government in Kiev, despite warnings from Moscow that the unfaltering Western support would indefinitely prolong the war.

Public opinion in the US is sharply divided over Washington's military assistance to Kyiv, with many linking it to the government's delay in passing the $10 billion funding meant to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden's decision to make the Ukraine aid package his government's main priority has not gone down well with many Americans. The US president said without new funding for Ukraine, shipments of weapons and other aid would need to be halted in about 10 days.

KI/PR