US Senate accepts budget with almost US$45 billion for Ukraine and allies

The United States Senate [the upper chamber of the Congress, the American parliament] accepted the bill on the government funding of US$1.7 trillion by a vast majority of votes. This budget includes almost US$45 billion for the support of Ukraine and Washington’s allies.

Source: European Pravda 

Details: 68 senators voted in favor, of this bill, 29 were against. Lindsey Graham, the senior US senator from the Republican Party, proposed an amendment to the bill which would allow seizing assets from Russian oligarchs and transferring them to Ukraine; it was accepted and added to the document. 

Later this week, the US Congress plans to approve the budget of the USA for next year which contains the "Act on additional allocation for Ukraine", which includes almost $45 billion. 

Key items of expenditure include up to $14.5 billion for transferring possessions from USA military storage to Ukraine by the President’s decision, $9 billion for purchasing military aid for Ukraine and $13.37 billion of financial assistance.

These funds will be provided in addition to the record-breaking sum of $858 billion of defence expenditures of this year. 

From here, the bill needs to be approved by the House of Representatives [the lower chamber of the Congress] and then signed by the US President, Joe Biden, for it to be put into effect. This has to be done by Friday, otherwise there will be a shutdown in the American government - a temporary termination of work due to the absence of an agreed budget. 

Background: Earlier, Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, expressed her confidence in the bill, with aid for Ukraine being approved in the near future. 

Read also an adapted translation of President Zelenskyy’s speech at the US Congress: "2023 will be a turning point in our common war".

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