Biden asks Congress for $24 billion for Ukraine aid, related needs

U.S. President Joe Biden asked Congress for $40 billion in additional spending, including $24 billion in assistance for Ukraine and other international needs connected to Russian aggression, CNN reported on Aug. 10.

The aid for Ukraine would include $13 billion in defense and security support and $7.3 billion for economic and humanitarian needs, CNN said.

The additional spending should also cover 3.3 billion for the restoration of infrastructure in countries affected by Russian aggression to prevent Chinese lending from taking hold in these nations.

"As the impacts of Russia's war reverberate around the globe, the United States is committed to maintaining strong global opposition to Russia's illegal war," Biden's budget director Shalanda Young wrote in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, sitting for the Republican Party.

The request can encounter opposition from Republicans, as some grow increasingly skeptical of continued support for Kyiv's defense efforts. Republicans hold a slim majority in the House of Representatives and up to seventy of their lawmakers voted in July to completely cut off Ukraine aid.

CNN said that Biden hopes to assuage Republican lawmakers by pairing the request with $12 billion in disaster relief.

The U.S. has provided Ukraine with $113 billion in assistance since the start of the full-scale invasion, making it Kyiv's leading international donor. Some of those finances are however allocated to the replenishment of U.S. military equipment that was sent to the frontlines.

Trump vows to make Europe pay for U.S. military Ukraine aid if re-elected

U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump said on July 18 that if elected, he will ask Europe to cover the U.S. costs of restoring stockpiles of weapons sent to Ukraine.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek