AFP

Biden: We will defend every inch of NATO territory. The US Congress approves $12 billion in new aid to Ukraine

The United States pledged Friday to defend "every inch" of the territory of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after Moscow announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, and in response imposed a new set of sanctions on Russia, confirming its intention to provide Kyiv with new weapons.

US President Joe Biden said in a speech at the White House that "America and its allies will not be intimidated, nor will we be intimidated" by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Then Biden addressed his Russian counterpart directly, pointing his finger at the camera to warn him against launching an attack on any of the NATO countries.

"America is fully prepared, with our NATO allies, to defend every inch of NATO territory," he said, emphasizing his warning, "Mr. Putin, don't misunderstand what I'm saying, every inch."

The US President was speaking shortly after Putin officially signed a decision to annex four Ukrainian regions occupied by Russian forces, promising to achieve "victory" in a speech he delivered during a ceremonial ceremony in Red Square in Moscow, describing it as a "farce" that Biden described as "in a difficult situation."

The US President announced new military aid to Ukraine worth $12 billion approved by the US Congress on Friday, promising to "continue providing military equipment" to this country "to be able to defend itself."

The US Congress on Friday approved $12.3 billion in new aid to Ukraine in a vote to approve the year-end budget and avoid shutdowns of federal departments.

This new package of aid allows US President Joe Biden to order the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) to transfer military equipment worth $3.7 billion to Ukraine.

The budget, which is described as "temporary" and allows the federal state to spend more than the budget ceiling previously approved, was approved by 230 deputies, including ten Republicans, against 201 votes.

It also provides for Kyiv $ 4.5 billion to enable it to avoid budget overruns.

This brings the value of US aid to the Ukrainian war effort to $65 billion. The new aid was approved hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin formally announced the annexation of four currently occupied Ukrainian regions.

"This additional assistance is a testament to the confidence of the United States in Ukraine, and will support essential government operations and contribute to alleviating the suffering of the Ukrainian people," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

"This funding is also aimed at strengthening the brave Ukrainian resistance against Putin's aggressive war," she added, calling on "other donors not only to speed up the release of funds to Ukraine but to increase their aid" as well.

By avoiding the shutdown of federal services, the congressional vote removes the specter of technical unemployment that would deprive hundreds of thousands of federal employees of wages if non-essential services were shut down.

This temporary budget, which allows state departments to remain open until December 16, was approved Thursday in the Senate by a comfortable margin of 72 to 25.

In addition to aid to Ukraine, this budget includes $1 billion in heating aid for low-income families, as well as billions in aid to deal with disasters that have recently affected a number of US states.

The bill was discussed in an unusually calm atmosphere for this type of vote, as members of Congress want to quickly return to their constituencies for the November 8 midterm campaign.

But parliamentarians rejected a request from the White House to allocate billions of dollars to fight the Covid-19 pandemic as well as against monkeypox, due to strong opposition from Republicans.

Last week, President Joe Biden announced the end of the epidemic, which facilitated the rejection of this proposal.