As Russia prepares to launch another full-scale offensive against Ukraine, United States President Joe Biden said in an interview with PBS NewsHour on Feb. 8 that aid to Ukraine is open-ended.
When PBS’s Judy Woodruff asked Biden if aid to Ukraine is open-ended, Biden replied, "Yeah, it is."
Biden also said that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has “already lost Ukraine,” adding that Putin believed wrongly that NATO would not respond to Russia's invasion.
“He thought that if he invaded Ukraine, first of all, he’d get a welcome by every Russian speaker, they’d say, ‘Come on in.’ Secondly, he thought what would happen is that NATO would collapse, NATO would not to do anything, they’d be afraid to act," he said.
In response to a question about a small group of Republican lawmakers who think that too much U.S. assistance is going to Ukraine, Biden laughed.
“If these guys don’t want to help Ukraine, I get it, they don’t want to do that, but what are they going to do to when Russia rolls across Ukraine or into Belarus or anywhere else?” he added.
The day before, Biden delivered his annual State of the Union address, during which Biden pledged to support Ukraine as long as needed.
On Feb. 3, the U.S. announced a new security package worth $2.17 billion to Ukraine, which includes long-range Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) missiles for U.S.-provided HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and more Javelin anti-tank weapons.
“In total, the US has committed $32 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since 2014, and $29.3 billion since Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion nearly one year ago this month,” Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said on Feb. 3.
