US President Joe Biden on Monday stepped up arms distribution to Ukraine based on a measure created to help US allies defeat Nazi Germany during WWII.
Biden signed the order at the White House and said his country supports Ukrainians “to defend their land and democracy in the face of Putin’s brutal war”.
He also said he was ready to make a political concession in Congress for swift approval of an additional $33 billion in support of Ukraine.
“We cannot afford to delay this vital war effort,” he said, urging Congress to “put on my table immediately” the Ukraine financing bill.
Acknowledging that the United States has spent billions of dollars, Biden said that “to succumb to aggression is even more expensive.”
The White House said the rule, signed by Biden, which facilitated the flow of military equipment, was “based on a World War II program to help Europe resist Hitler.”
The measure adopted by President Biden came in 1945, the day the Allies won in Europe, marking the defeat of Hitler’s Germany.
Biden also emphasized that this second is the anniversary of Europe Day, which commemorates the beginning of the European Union in 1950 and the creation of an “economic power” and “global peacekeeping force”.
The credit update comes hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw a military parade on Moscow’s Red Square commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.
Earlier, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for saying something “nonsense” and insulting history by presenting the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a defensive operation.
“To call this an act of defense is plainly ridiculous,” Price told reporters.
It is an insult to those who lost their lives, to the victims of this senseless persecution.”
“Historical Step”
In a tweet, Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelensky congratulated the measure and also reminded of the war against Germany.
“This is a historic step. I believe we will win together again and defend democracy in Ukraine and defend democracy in Europe as we did 77 years ago,” he wrote.
In the 1940s, the United States and the Soviet Union briefly formed an alliance against their common enemy, Germany.
At the time, then-US President Franklin Roosevelt first used the loan and lease measure, which removed bureaucratic hurdles, to funnel billions of dollars worth of equipment to European allies, including the Soviets.
source: Noticias
