White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre refused to go into details about the "hypothetical" possibility that Congress will approve a different version of the bill to help Ukraine than the one submitted to the US Parliament by US President Joe Biden almost six months ago, UNN reports with reference to Voice of America.
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Biden's bill has been approved by the Senate, but the other chamber of the US parliament, the House of Representatives, has not yet put it to a vote.
At a press briefing on Monday, Jean-Pierre shared the White House's expectations that U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson will bring the bill submitted by Biden to a vote.
We are convinced that the Speaker will put to vote a bill on additional funding for national security priorities. Obviously, this includes Ukraine, humanitarian aid, assistance to Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region. We believe that it (the bill) will have the support of the majority of both parties in the House of Representatives.
"That's all he has to do," Jean-Pierre said of Johnson and emphasized that the bill has already received significant support in the Senate.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson in an interview with Fox News on Sunday indicated that the House of Representatives is working on an aid package for Ukraine and plans to include important "innovations" compared to the bill submitted by US President Joe Biden.
Among the important innovations that can be expected in the bill, Johnson listed the possibility of confiscating Russian assets, providing aid to Ukraine in the form of a loan, and provisions that would increase energy exports from the United States to reduce revenues for Putin.
"The REPO bill, as you know, allows for the use of confiscated assets of Russian oligarchs to allow Ukrainians to fight them - it's pure poetry," Johnson said.
Regarding the idea of providing Ukraine with assistance in the form of a loan, Johnson added: "Even President Trump has talked about the concept of a loan, where we ... don't just give international aid. We create a relationship where they can pay it back to us at the right time.