Shutdown continues in United States: Senate fails to pass resolution on government funding

The partial government shutdown continues in the United States as the Senate failed to vote on both Democratic and Republican funding bills.

It was reported by CNN.

On October 6, the upper house of Congress failed to reach a compromise that could end the shutdown. The main point of disagreement was the tax breaks for health insurance. Democrats insist on a permanent expansion of the Obamacare benefits to help Americans pay for private health insurance. Republicans strongly oppose this provision.

Meanwhile, the White House is preparing for massive layoffs of federal employees if President Donald Trump decides that negotiations have reached an impasse.

Presidential advisers warn that a prolonged shutdown could deal a serious blow to the US economy, with the country losing up to USD 15 billion in GDP every week.

Impact on Ukraine

The US federal government has been in a partial shutdown since October 1 due to the lack of an approved budget. Against this backdrop, rumors have surfaced that the supply of American weapons to Ukraine may be suspended.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied these fears, saying that the PURL program continues to operate without changes. Ukraine buys weapons from the United States with funding from EU countries.

Ukraine's Ambassador to the US Olha Stefanishyna also confirmed that the delivery schedule has not changed:

"There is no direct impact at the moment. All planned deliveries in the coming days continue to arrive according to the schedule," she said.