President Joe Biden communicated this Friday (06/07/2024) to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelensky, new aid from the United States for $225 million. “The United States will always be with you,” Biden said during a meeting in Paris with Zelensky, who thanked him for Washington’s “enormous support” in his war to defend against the Russian invasion.
“You did not bend, you did not give in,” said Biden, who offered his “apologies” for the months of negotiations that preceded the complicated adoption by the US Congress of a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine, which finally received the approval of the House of Representatives last April, after months of blockade.
“I apologize for the weeks in which you did not know what was going to happen with the financing because we had problems with the passage of the bill,” said the US president. “Some very conservative members (of the House of Representatives) were blocking it, but we finally got it passed,” Biden added.
“We are not alone”
Zelensky thanked Biden for the “tremendous” American support. “We count on his continued support and that they will be with us,” he added. Washington’s support shows Ukrainians “that we are not alone,” stressed the Ukrainian president, who considered “very important” the unity that was finally manifested in Congress and that “all the American people are with Ukraine.”
According to a Pentagon statement, the announcement includes air defense missiles, ammunition for the HIMARS rocket launcher system, artillery projectiles and missiles, and grenades. Both leaders are in France for the ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings.
Western countries have increased their aid to kyiv in recent weeks, as Russia gains ground in its offensive launched in February 2022 to invade Ukraine. On Thursday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the supply of Mirage 2000-5 fighters and the training of Ukrainian pilots in France starting this summer. Macron also indicated that France had proposed training 4,500 soldiers on Ukrainian territory.
DZC/MS (AFP, EFE)
