Blinken urges Congress to pass aid bill for Ukraine as he meets Ukrainian counterpart

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the House of Representatives on Thursday to pass supplemental funding for Ukraine.

“It is urgent that all of the friends and supporters of Ukraine maximize their efforts to provide Ukraine what it needs to continue to effectively defend itself against this Russian aggression,” Blinken said before meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy.

Kuleba.

“And in particular for the United States, that means passing the supplemental, the extra budget request that the (US) president has made for Ukraine that we now hope will be before the House this weekend,” he said. “And I would just remind the profound stakes that the United States has in Ukraine’s success. If (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is allowed to proceed with impunity, we know he won’t stop at Ukraine, and we can safely predict that his aggression will continue,” he added.

Kuleba, for his part, said the war consists of millions of details, the only issue on his agenda at the G7 meeting is “air defense”.

“And for obvious reasons, the role of the United States in the matter of air defense is fundamental,” he said. “And in this regard, I would also like to call on the members of the House to support the supplemental that will literally, without exaggeration, help save Ukrainians from Russian missile slaughter. This is a matter of death and life for thousands of people, and in a broader sense, it’s a matter of Ukraine’s survival in this struggle against a much stronger enemy.”