Senate Republicans' leader opposes providing aid to Ukraine
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (photo: GettyImages)
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has announced that he will advocate for Republican senators to vote against allocating funding for aid to Ukraine, according to ABC News.
"We are doing this, hopefully, for the last time, to underscore that we insist on significant changes at the border," explained McConnell regarding his decision.
On December 6, the Senate (the upper house of the U.S. Congress) is set to consider a bill for the allocation of $106 billion proposed by U.S. President Joe Biden.
The majority of these funds ($60 billion) are intended for assistance to Ukraine. The bill also includes funding for Israel, the Indo-Pacific region, and border security.
However, on the eve of this, the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. failed to reach an agreement on funding for American border security.
It is reported that Republicans have promised to withdraw support for the aid package to Ukraine if Democrats do not agree to strengthen U.S. laws on asylum and conditional early release in immigration procedures.
Vote on aid for Ukraine
On December 4, Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States, stated that the United States would be unable to provide weapons to Ukraine unless Congress supports the bill for funding allocation.
Ahead of the vote, the U.S. was visited by Andriy Yermak, the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, and the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) Ruslan Stefanchuk.
