Biden says Putin’s aggression has ‘united’ Americans and ‘the freedom-loving world’
US president praises Congress for the inclusion of a ‘historic’ $14.6bn in defence and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine in the government funding bill he signed on Tuesday
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said Russian president Vladimir Putin had united Americans and people across the world in opposition to him by invading Ukraine last month.
Speaking at a signing ceremony for a bill to fund US government operations for the remainder of the 2022 fiscal year, Mr Biden praised legislative leaders for including a ‘historic’ level of funding — $13.6bn — to ensure sufficient “economic, humanitarian and security” resources to continue the “forceful” US response to the crisis.
“Putin’s aggression against Ukraine has united people all across America. united our two parties in Congress and united the freedom-loving world,” he said.
“We've been providing anti-armor — taking out and air capabilities — directly directly to the Ukrainian forces. We’re also facilitating significant shipments of security assistance from our allied partners to Ukraine,” he continued. “With this new security funding ... we're moving urgently to further augment the support to the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their country.”
Mr Biden also said the US is “leading the global humanitarian response” to the invasion, and has already provided $239m in assistance to Ukraine and neighbouring countries to help absorb the millions of refugees displaced by Mr Putin’s war.
“It's exceedingly difficult to get supplies into Ukraine while the Russian onslaught continues, but we're managing to get supplies in Ukraine regularly thanks to the bravery of so many frontline workers who are still at their posts,” he said.
“With billions more included in this bill for new humanitarian assistance, we're going to be able to quickly ramp up our efforts and help alleviate the suffering that Putin's war is causing the Ukrainian people in the region”.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments