Biden reacts to Navalny's death urging to approve aid to Ukaine
Photo: Joe Biden, President of U.S. (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
The death of Aleksei Navalny reminds Americans of what is at stake and that the U.S. must continue to fund Ukraine, says U.S. President Joe Biden.
"This tragedy reminds us of the stakes in this moment, let’s provide the funding so Ukraine can keep defending itself against Putin's vicious onslaught and war crimes," Biden said.
The U.S. President reminded that the Senate voted with the majority of votes for this draft law. He further added that "history is watching the House of Representatives" and if the U.S. fails to support Ukraine at this critical moment, history will not forget it. Biden said it would go down in history and have huge consequences.
"The clock is ticking. And this has to happen, we have to act now. We have to realize that we are dealing here with Putin," the U.S. president said.
What is known about Navalny's death
The Federal Penitentiary Service (FSVP) reported today, February 16, about the death of politician Aleksei Navalny in colony No. 3 in the village of Kharp of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District.
According to the FSVP report, Navalny felt bad during a walk. After that, he fainted almost immediately, and the doctors who arrived at the scene declared his death.
Read more about the politician's death in the RBC-Ukraine article 'Murder Putin allowed himself to perpetrate': How Navalny's death will impact Russia.
U.S. aid to Ukraine
On February 13, the Senate of the United States supported a bill on aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan in the amount of 95 billion dollars. In particular, the document provides for over 60 billion dollars for Ukraine.
The U.S. has been unable to approve new funding for aid to Ukraine for several months due to disagreements between Republicans and Democrats. Thus, the allocation of new packages of American military aid has been suspended.
Now the U.S. Congress is trying to find a "plan B" to allocate aid to Ukraine despite the opposition of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson.
For the Senate-backed bill to enter into force, it must be approved by the House of Representatives and signed by US President Joe Biden.
