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Biden administration and congressional aides say the White House asked Congress on Friday for $6.4 billion in aid to help Ukraine’s people and security after Russia invaded the country this week.
In a recent meeting with lawmakers, the administration said that Ukraine and its Central European partners need more humanitarian, security, and economic aid from the United States because Russia invaded without any reason.
The request for $2.9 billion in security and humanitarian aid and $3.5 billion for the Department of Defense was made.
At a briefing for staff from Congress’s leadership offices and relevant committees, the administration asked for the money. The appropriations committees set how much money the government spends.
Congress, which is run by President Joe Biden’s fellow Democrats, would look at the $2.9 billion in funding for the State Department and USAID as an emergency bill, congressional aides say. The Pentagon’s funding would be looked at later.
The money would also pay for the sanctions Biden is putting in place to punish Russia for its aggression against Ukraine.
President Barack Obama and the Democratic Senator from New York, Patrick Leahy, said they would work together to solve the crisis.
In a statement, he said, “The United States government needs to give our allies and the innocent people who are caught in this needless tragedy the resources they need.”
There are already $650 million in security aid and $52 million in humanitarian aid that the United States has given to Ukraine over the last year, as well as a $1 billion sovereign loan guarantee that was announced last week. The new funds would add to that.
Talking about how much money is needed will change as the situation on the ground changes, says a person in the Biden administration.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Democrat Chris Coons said he would support $10 billion or more in aid to help deal with the crisis.