The United States Senate has passed a $95bn bill with aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan after many weeks of negotiations.
The long-delayed measure won approval from the upper house of Congress early on Tuesday, February 13, 2024.
The upper chamber pushed through a number of procedural hurdles in recent days, remaining in Washington through the weekend despite a planned recess that was set to begin this week.
The vote saw 22 Republicans voting with Democrats to pass the package 70-29.
The bill still faces an uncertain fate with several right-wing Republicans in the House already saying they will block it. They insist that the $61bn for Ukraine should be spent instead on domestic issues, such as border security.
However, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is far from certain, as former president and 2024 frontrunner Donald Trump had urged Republicans to avoid passing legislation. Trump said that this would give President Joe Biden a chance to claim a legislative victory.
The two politicians are likely to battle for the presidency, once again in November. The United States has considered Ukraine’s most important ally in the defence against the Russian invasion, since the start of the war in February 2022.
The Biden administration has provided or pledged military aid totalling more than 44 billion dollars for Kyiv.
The aid package passed by the Senate includes around 60 billion dollars in aid for Ukraine, the majority of which is earmarked for military support.
This was roughly the amount that Biden had originally requested. The draft also includes 14 billion dollars for Israel as well as billions in aid for Taiwan and other partners in the Indo-Pacific.