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Jake Sullivan, US National Security Advisor, in Kiev: no Plan B

Photo: Vadim Ghirda/dpa

For the time being, there will be no decision in the US Congress on another urgently needed aid package for Ukraine.

A two-week break begins at the weekend.

And before this comes the decisions on the US budget.

House Republican leader Mike Johnson said this on Wednesday.

He promised that Congress would take up the Ukraine issue “immediately” after the break in early April.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj had just emphasized that a quick decision by Congress was of “decisive importance.”

Because the Ukrainian soldiers at the front are running out of ammunition.

They are increasingly on the defensive.

An aid package of $60 billion (around 55.7 billion euros) promised by the USA could improve the situation - but Republicans have been blocking the release of the money in Congress for months.

The pressure from former US President Donald Trump, who wants to run for election again in November, is also to blame.

In return for their approval, Republicans are demanding tougher measures to secure the US border with Mexico.

US Security Advisor Sullivan in Kyiv

Meanwhile, Jake Sullivan, US National Security Advisor, is trying to give the Ukrainians hope: "We will get a strong, bipartisan vote in Congress," he promised during a visit to Kiev on Wednesday.

“We will give you the money as it should be.

“So I don’t think we need to talk about a Plan B today.” But he also admitted that the whole process was taking too long.

US President Joe Biden has repeatedly called on the House of Representatives to abandon the blockade - in vain.

350 million euros from the Netherlands

Help is now coming from the Netherlands, Lithuania, Latvia and the Czech Republic.

The Dutch government announced on Wednesday evening that it would support Ukraine with bombs worth 150 million euros and a further 200 million euros for the purchase of drones.

The bombs are intended for the 24 F-16 fighter jets already provided by the Netherlands.

Ukrainian pilots are currently being trained for operations in Romania.

The Czech Republic has announced that it will buy 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine from non-EU countries.

Lithuania is supporting this initiative with 35 million euros, and Latvia is also participating.

vet/AFP/AP/dpa