In the United States, Democrats said on Tuesday they would wait to decide how to respond to a proposal by the Republican-led House of Representatives to consider aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan separately, rather than as one bill, Reuters reported, UNN reported.
Details
More than two months after the Senate approved a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other U.S. partners in the Indo-Pacific, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that the House will consider the aid this week, but will do so as separate pieces of legislation.
"Democrats in the House and Senate - and in the White House - said they would consider Johnson's proposals, although they emphasized that the best and fastest strategy would be for the House to pass the legislation approved by the Senate in February," the newspaper notes.
It is indicated that Johnson's plan was approved on Tuesday by the chairmen of the House Appropriations, Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees, as well as the chairman of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee.
"We are out of time when it comes to our national security. We need to pass this aid package this week," said Representatives Tom Cole, Mike Rogers, Michael McCaul, Mike Turner and Ken Calvert in a joint statement.
Turner and Congressman Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said in a separate statement after the secret briefing that "the situation on the ground in Ukraine is critical and assistance is needed immediately," the newspaper writes.
Consideration of the individual bills, as noted, could add weeks to the timeline for the aid to become law, as it must be passed by the House of Representatives and then returned to the Senate for a vote before it can be sent to the White House for Democratic President Joe Biden's signature.
"I will withhold judgment on what will come out of the House until we see more about the substance of the proposal and the process by which the proposal will proceed," Senator Chuck Schumer said at the opening of the Senate session.
"I hope we will get details of the speaker's proposal later today (April 16 - ed.). Again, time is of the essence," Schumer said.
Asked whether the White House would support the four separate bills, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the administration was waiting for more information.
"At first glance, it does seem like the speaker's proposal would actually help us get help for Ukraine, help for Israel, and the resources we need for the Indo-Pacific region for a wide range of contingencies there. We just want to get more details," he told reporters.
Johnson told Fox News on Tuesday that the fourth bill would include additional sanctions against Russia and Iran, as well as the REPO Act, a provision to seize Russian assets to help Ukraine.