The Republican leader in the Senate visited Kyiv last weekend.
The leader of the Republican minority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, expects that on Wednesday the upper house of the U.S. Congress will vote to approve a proposed package worth about $ 40 billion aimed at helping Ukraine resist the Russian invasion. This will be preceded by a procedural vote on Monday.
“We expect that on Monday the procedure for ending the debate on this issue will be activated. I hope it will be supported by a large majority, and this will allow us to approve additional measures on Wednesday,” McConnell told reporters during a conference call from Stockholm on Sunday, after he visited the Ukrainian capital on Saturday.
On April 28, U.S. President Joe Biden requested $33 billion to provide assistance to Ukraine, including $20 billion in military aid. The House of Representatives increased this amount to about 40 billion, providing additional military and humanitarian assistance.
Speaking from Sweden, which, like Finland, plans to apply for NATO membership, McConnell strongly supported the desire of both countries to join the Western military alliance created to deter Soviet military aggression.
“Both countries have very combat–ready armed forces,” McConnell noted, “they will become an important addition to NATO if they decide to join the alliance, and I think the United States should be first in line to ratify the treaty on the accession of these two countries.”
