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US President Joe Biden

Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP

Following agreeing on a transitional budget without additional military aid to Ukraine, US President Joe Biden has assured Kiev of Washington's continued support. "I want to assure our American allies, the American people, and the people of Ukraine that you can count on our support. We will not retreat," Biden said in an address delivered at the White House.

Previously, the U.S. Congress had passed a financial plan valid for only 45 days with a bipartisan majority in order to avoid a budget freeze for the time being. However, this text does not contain any new aid for Ukraine. A handful of Republican hardliners in Congress, who are particularly close to former President Donald Trump, are opposed to any further military aid to Ukraine.

Biden: "Playing with fire"

Biden said in his speech that there was an "overwhelming sense of urgency" to get Congress to pass a new Ukraine aid package. Biden called on Republicans to prevent a new budget crisis after the expiry of the transitional budget that has now been agreed. He was "fed up with playing with fire," Biden said.

The U.S. is the country that has provided the most extensive support to Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The value of the support so far is 110 billion dollars (the equivalent of around 103.9 billion euros). The new U.S. budget was supposed to launch another $24 billion aid package.

This additional aid to Ukraine is now to be passed separately by the US Congress. According to US media, this will be voted on shortly.

For its part, the Ukrainian government expressed confidence in US support. Kiev is "actively" working with its U.S. partners to ensure that the next U.S. budget includes "new funding to support Ukraine," said Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko.

Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on several online networks that his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin had assured him in a telephone conversation that U.S. support for Ukraine would continue in defense against Russia's war of aggression.

jpa/AFP