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• Entire package is nearly a fifth of annual economic output of Ukraine in 2021
• Biden asked to amend several criminal laws, which will give ability to seize more money from Russian oligarchs
President Joe Biden has asked Congress to provide $33 billion to fund humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine through September of this year.
The massive package includes nearly $20.5 billion for weapons, ammunition and other military assistance, $8.5 billion in direct economic aid to the Ukrainian government and $3 billion in humanitarian aid.
“We need this bill to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom,” Biden said after signing the request on Thursday. “The cost of this fight - it’s not cheap - but caving to aggression is going to be more costly.”
While the United States has ruled out sending its own or NATO forces to Ukraine, Washington and its European allies have supplied weapons to Kyiv.
“We either back the Ukrainian people as they defend their country, or we stand by as the Russians continue their atrocities and aggression in Ukraine every day,” Biden said.
The complete package is nearly a fifth of pre-war annual economic output of Ukraine, and the $20 billion in military assistance is about a third of what the Russian military spent overall in 2021.
Shifting goals to long-term
The White House also asked Congress to amend several longstanding criminal laws, which will give the ability to seize additional money from Russian oligarchs to pay for the war effort.
Biden’s proposal would let US officials seize more assets from oligarchs and give the cash from those seizures to Ukraine.
The measures are part of US efforts to punish Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, as well as to help Kyiv recover from the war.
The two-part request to Congress comes as the war enters its third month, and the US government is shifting its strategic objectives to reflect a medium-term goal and a long-term goal.
Although in the immediate future, the goal is to arm the Ukrainian forces to secure victory in the war by expelling Russia, in the longer term, the US is seeking ways to weaken Moscow’s entire power structure by crippling its economy with sanctions and trade embargoes.
Picture Credit: ABCNews
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