US Senate approves multi-billion dollar military bill for Ukraine

The US Senate has voted to pass a funding bill that includes $12 billion in the additional military and economic aid for Ukraine.

Senate lawmakers on Thursday voted to pass the bill for the additional military and economic aid for Ukraine, which comes after the US has already allocated around $55 billion to Kiev since February. 

The bill passed by 72 votes to 25, with 22 Republicans crossing party lines and joining their Democrat colleagues to ensure the easy passage of the legislation.

The new bill sets aside $4.5 billion for the Ukrainian government, $3 billion for weapons and military equipment, and additional funding to replenish US weapons already sent to Ukraine and to allow the transfer of more arms from American stockpiles.

The bill is expected to pass in the House of Representatives on Friday before being signed into law by US President Joe Biden.

At this point, the US will have committed more military aid to Ukraine compared to any foreign country in a year since the Vietnam War.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump has condemned the move, accusing the Biden administration of risking the outbreak of “World War III” by pouring weapons into an active conflict with nuclear power.

"I think more than anything else, I think we could end up in World War III," Trump said when asked by John Catsimatidis on his radio show Tuesday evening "what are the things that keep you up at night right now?"

It is "a very bad time for this country and a very bad and a very dangerous time for the world," Trump warned.

Trump claimed that if he were still at the helm, Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have launched the Russian forces' special military operation in Ukraine.

He insisted that Biden's botched withdrawal of the US military forces from Afghanistan last summer made Putin aware of a weakness in US leadership.

"I think it was the most embarrassing and horrible moment, just about the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country,' Trump said of the withdrawal. "I think Putin saw that."

Meantime, Russia has repeatedly warned the US against supplying more weapons to Ukraine, saying it will make matters worse.
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Russia says that its special military operation in Ukraine is aimed at “demilitarizing” the country's eastern region of Donbas.

Back in 2014, Donetsk and its neighboring Luhansk region, which together form the Donbas, declared themselves independent republics and refused to recognize the Kiev regime.

The declaration of independence of the two regions was met with Kiev's fierce reaction and evolved into an 8-year war between the Western-backed Ukrainian military forces and the regions' pro-Russian forces.

Putin has described the Russian forces' mission in the region, which was launched in late February, as an effort in “defending people who for eight years were suffering persecution and genocide by the Kiev regime.”

The Russian leader has pointed out that the Kiev regime is forced to respect the will of the people, vowing to defend the Russian land with all means.

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