Blinken to meet with NATO allies as US ups the ante against Russia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling to Europe this week to meet with the foreign ministers of NATO as the Washington-led military alliance ups the ante against Russia over its war against Ukraine.

In a statement on Thursday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Blinken will travel to Berlin on May 14 for an informal meeting with the foreign ministers of NATO states.

He added that the US secretary will also attend the US-EU Trade and Technology Council in Paris on May 15.

Next month there is a leaders-level meeting to take place in Madrid. 

“Allies and partners will discuss their unified response to Russia’s continuing brutal war against Ukraine,” Price said. “Allies will also adopt a new NATO Strategic Concept to guide the Alliance’s work over the next decade.”

The meeting comes as the Biden administration is working on committing nearly $40 billion in new assistance for Ukraine, most of that military aid.

US lawmakers on Tuesday approved the $40 billion aid package for Ukraine as Washington looks to prolong the conflict with Russia.

Both Republican and Democratic Parties had already reached an agreement on the details of the massive package, which passed the House of Representatives by 368 votes to 57. All the dissenting votes came from the Republican ranks.

The package will likely pass the Senate by the end of the week or next week.

"With this aid package, America sends a resounding message to the world of our unwavering determination to stand with the courageous people of Ukraine until victory is won," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her Democratic colleagues ahead of the vote.

Two weeks ago, US President Joe Biden asked Congress for a whopping $33 billion aid package for Ukraine, including more than $20 billion in new military aid and other security assistance over the next five months to use in the regime's war with Russia.

The supplemental funding request includes $16.4 billion for the Defense Department, $8.5 billion in economic assistance, and $3 billion for humanitarian assistance and to fight food insecurity, according to reports.

The new package includes $6 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and $5.4 billion to replenish military inventories of weapons and equipment sent to the front lines.

On Monday, however, Congressional leaders agreed to release $6.8 billion more than the $33 billion requested by the White House.

The White House said that more than $20 billion of the $33 billion would be for military and other security systems.

Biden has also demanded an additional $8.5 billion in economic assistance to help provide basic services to the Ukrainian people and $3 billion in humanitarian assistance and food security funding.

If the package passes as planned, US spending in Ukraine and addressing the ensuing humanitarian crisis will soar to around $54 billion.

The US has already delivered $2.4 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of Biden’s term in office, though much of that aid has come since Russia’s military operation against Ukraine began in late February.

This is while a report has revealed that the US government is struggling to track large quantities of “lethal aid” shipped to Ukraine in recent months amid raging conflict in the country.

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