Washington- President Biden will ask Congress on Thursday to provide additional funding for Ukraine and introduce a legislative proposal aimed at bolstering the federal government’s ability to hold the Russian government accountable for the invasion of Ukraine.
Biden is expected to discuss his requests to Congress with comments about “supporting Ukrainians defending their country and their freedom against Russia’s brutal war,” the White House said. The president’s comments come a week after he announced another $800 million security assistance round to help Ukraine strengthen its defenses against The intensification of the Russian offensive in the east of the country.
In announcing the military aid last week, Biden revealed that he had “nearly exhausted” his congressionally authorized withdrawal authority for Ukraine in last month’s bipartisan spending bill. He said that “to sustain Ukraine for the duration of this struggle,” he would seek more money from lawmakers “to maintain the uninterrupted flow of arms and ammunition to the brave Ukrainian fighters and continue to provide economic assistance to the Ukrainian people.” .”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that approving Ukraine funding and approving another round of COVID-19 pandemic aid requires “swift, bipartisan action.” But it’s unclear how quickly the request will move through the Senate, as the $10 billion COVID bill has get caught up in a debate on immigration and border policy.
The White House said Biden’s proposal for a comprehensive legislative package targeting the Russian government and oligarchs “will establish new authorities for the confiscation of assets linked to the Russian kleptocracy, allow the government to use the proceeds to support Ukraine, and further strengthen plus related law. execution tools.
The multi-pronged plan would streamline administrative authority to seize and confiscate assets from oligarchs; allow the transfer of profits from confiscated assets to Ukraine as compensation for the Russian war; allow the confiscation of assets used by the oligarchs to evade sanctions; strengthen US capacity to investigate and prosecute sanctions evasion; extend the statute of limitations to prosecute money laundering from five to 10 years; and improve the government’s ability to work with foreign partners to recover assets linked to foreign corruption.
Throughout their nine-week war in Ukraine, Russian forces suffered setbacks, failing to capture the capital of kyiv, but entered a new phase of the invasion, turning their attention to Ukraine’s eastern industrial region.
Ukraine’s army General Staff said Thursday that Russian troops were “exerting heavy fire” around Donetsk and near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. In the eastern Donbas region, a Russian hotspot, the General Staff said Ukrainian forces have fought off six attacks.
Ihor Lapin, commander of the Ukrainian special forces battalion, he told CBS News that his forces need high-caliber ammunition to take on Russia’s firepower.
The United States has continued to send weapons systems and ammunition systems to Ukraine, with more than half of the howitzers the United States has committed delivered, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said on Wednesday. More than 50 Ukrainian fighters have also finished howitzer training in a country outside of Ukraine, and a second group will begin training soon, he said.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a secret visit to kyiv on Sunday, becoming the highest-ranking US officials to visit the capital since the start of the Russian war. During their meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, they promised to provide more military funding.
Reference-www.cbsnews.com