The White House believes that the bill adopted by the US Senate meets the defense needs of Ukraine, as well as the defense needs of Israel and other issues, so it called on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, to introduce it for consideration, instead of the idea of creating a bill on a loan for Ukraine.
This was announced by the Director of Strategic Communications of the US National Security Council, John Kirby, answering the question of the Voice of America.
"We believe that the bill that was passed in the Senate is very well aligned with our strong desire to continue to support Ukraine. It is well aligned with the defense needs of Ukraine, as well as the defense needs of Israel and other issues of our national security around the world. So we continue to urge Speaker Johnson to bring this bill up, vote on it, and move forward. We know there is strong bipartisan support for it if it comes up for a vote," John Kirby said on March 14 in response to a Voice of America question.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon added that it would be very difficult for Ukraine to pay a loan during the war. In addition, the alternative bill would have to be coordinated with a number of government departments.
"I know that negotiations are ongoing in the Congress. I will not rush ahead of that. We need additional funding at the moment. I think it will be very difficult for a country like Ukraine, which is going through a war, to return these loans. And this is something that needs to be worked out not only with the Department of Defense, but also with the Department of State and the White House," Deputy Pentagon Spokesperson Sabrina Singh said in response to Voice of America's questions.
It will be recalled that Johnson told Republican senators on Wednesday, March 13, that the House will prepare its bill on supporting Ukraine, but in a significantly different form than the one approved by the Senate - he suggested making it a loan or leasing program, and also talked about including something similar in the law REPO for Ukrainians.
Meanwhile, the bill passed by the US Senate provides for the allocation of USD 95 billion, of which USD 60 billion will go to Ukraine, and the rest to other US allies, in particular Israel and the countries of the Indo-Pacific region.
It is noted that the White House believes that the majority of congressmen in the Democratic and Republican parties support the Senate version of the bill on aid to Ukraine and are ready to vote on it, but the speaker of the House of Representatives refuses to bring it to a vote.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the US Department of State does not consider it a good idea to provide Ukraine with military aid in the form of loans.
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