The $95.3 billion bill was passed after months of congressional gridlock jeopardized a major thrust of President Biden’s foreign policy.
President Biden was set to sign a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Wednesday, reaffirming U.S. support for Kyiv in its fight against Russia’s military attack after months of congressional gridlock threatened the White House’s main foreign policy thrust.
On Tuesday evening, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve the package, a sign of bipartisan support after growing policy divisions raised questions on Capitol Hill and among U.S. allies about whether the United States would continue to support Kyiv. The 79 to 18 vote gave Biden another legislative achievement to boast about, even in the face of an obstructionist House of Representatives.
“Congress passed my bill to strengthen our national security and send a message to the world about the strength of American leadership: We stand firmly for democracy and freedom, against tyranny and oppression,” Mr. Biden said Tuesday night, just minutes after the Senate vote.
He said he would sign the bill into law and address the American people on Wednesday “so we can start sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week.”
The White House first requested the security package in October, and officials explicitly acknowledged that the six-month delay has put Ukraine at a disadvantage in its fight against Russia.
“The Russians are slowly but successfully taking more and more territory from the Ukrainians and pushing them to the first, second, and sometimes third line of defense,” John F. Kirby, spokesman for President Biden’s National Security Council, said on Air Force One on Tuesday. “The short answer is yes, there has been damage done over the last several months.”
Nevertheless, the passage of the legislation ended an extraordinary period in Washington. Speaker Mike Johnson had to overcome fierce right-wing opposition to get it through the House of Representatives. The aid is split into four parts: one measure for each of the three US allies and another designed to sweeten the deal for conservatives, which includes a provision that could lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok.
The bill includes $60.8 billion for Ukraine; $26.4 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid to civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific. It also includes sanctions against Iranian and Russian officials.
The House of Representatives also added a provision requiring the president to demand that the Ukrainian government repay $10 billion. The idea to include a portion of the aid to Ukraine in the form of a loan was another example of former President Donald Trump’s influence on Congress. Trump called for making any future aid to Ukraine a loan.
The White House tried to reach an agreement with Mr. Johnson in various ways for six months. Officials even agreed to some tougher measures at the US border when Mr. Johnson said he would not allow aid to Ukraine without border restrictions. But when Trump denounced the law, hoping to prevent Biden from winning the election, Republicans followed suit.
But when the Senate passed its own bill to provide $95 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan without any immigration measures, it increased the pressure on Mr. Johnson.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/us/politics/biden-ukraine-israel-aid.html
The European Parliament of the current convocation will hold its last plenary session this week. The new parliament will be elected in the European elections in the EU member states to be held from June 6 to 9.
During a press conference held on Monday in Strasbourg before the session, the head of the EP press service, Jame Duch, said that 600 journalists would cover the last session of the parliament, and 90 bills would be put to a vote. Among them is a bill to extend Ukraine’s liberal trade regime, which also provides protective measures for EU farmers. The vote will take place on Tuesday. In total, from 2019 to 2024, this ninth parliament passed 3,599 pieces of legislation.
The press service of the European Parliament told Interfax-Ukraine that in the last two years of the institution’s work alone, from September 2021 to April 2024, 40 resolutions related to Ukraine were adopted.
In front of the EP building, among the flags of the European Union member states, which are installed in two parallel rows, the flag of Ukraine, which has been raised since the day of Russia’s invasion, continues to fly. The Ukrainian flag is first, next to the EU flag, symbolizing support. “The Parliament has played a key role in the EU’s response to Russia’s war of aggression, including several rounds of macro-financial assistance, acting to support increased munitions production and the Ukraine Facility,” Duch said.
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Controlled power supply restrictions for industrial consumers (power limitation schedules) will be applied from 18:00 to 22:00 on Wednesday, the press service of NPC Ukrenergo reports.
According to the press service, consumption restrictions for business and industrial enterprises will be evenly distributed in all regions of Ukraine.
At the same time, the power supply to critical infrastructure facilities and defense companies will not be limited.
“The need to limit energy supply is a consequence of Russian massive missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian power plants. Due to the deteriorating weather conditions in Ukraine, electricity consumption has increased significantly. The power system remains short of capacity,” explained NPC.
“We ask all consumers to consume electricity sparingly. And industry and business to use electricity imports and alternative power sources as much as possible,” the company added.
The Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade (ICIT) has initiated a review of safeguard measures on imports of cut fresh roses to Ukraine, regardless of the country of origin and export, due to the expiration of the measures.
As stated in the decision of the ICIT dated April 12, which came into force on April 17 and was published in the Uryadovy Courier newspaper, Ascania-Flora LLC proposed to extend the special duty on imports of roses to Ukraine introduced three years ago: the duty rate in the first year of its validity was 56%, in the second year – 44.8% and in the third year – 35.84%.
The Ministry of Economy provided the results of consideration of this appeal, according to which the application of safeguard measures had a positive impact on the activities of the domestic producer, but did not fully eliminate the consequences of the damage caused to it.
The ICIT concluded that Ascania-Flora’s application contained sufficient information to indicate that the domestic producer was in the process of adapting to the conditions of competition.
Thus, the ICIT decided to review the safeguard measures on imports of fresh roses (UCG FEA code 0603 11 00) and their exports to Ukraine and entrusted it to the Ministry of Economy.
As reported, the ICMT’s decision of April 16, 2021, to impose a special duty on the import of roses was published in the Uryadovyi Kurier newspaper on April 21 of that year and entered into force 30 days after the date of publication.
According to the State Statistics Service, in January-February of this year, Ukraine imported 470.08 thousand pieces of cut roses, or 20.6 tons, worth $149 thousand. The main supplier of them is Ethiopia – 392.43 thousand pieces for $2103.5 thousand.
In turn, Ukraine exported 72.65 thousand roses worth $50.7 thousand to Lithuania and Moldova in two months.
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Centravis Production Ukraine, a part of Centravis Ltd. holding, increased pipe production by 14% year-on-year to 3.2 thousand tons from 2.8 thousand tons in January-March this year.
According to a press release on Wednesday, citing Andriy Krasiuk, the company’s production director, the company has reached a good production rate.
“We are doing our best not to slow down and, most importantly, not to stand still. Despite the difficult situation in the country, we continue to invest in new developments. Recently, our team took part in the international Tube exhibition in Düsseldorf. We received a lot of interesting information from there. We are analyzing global trends and preparing to process requests from potential customers,” said Krasiuk.
As reported, Centravis increased production by 12% to 12.2 thousand tons in 2023. More than 98% of its products are exported.
“Founded in 2000, Centravis is one of the ten largest producers of seamless stainless steel pipes in the world. Its main production facilities are located in Nikopol (Dnipropetrovska oblast). In 2023, the company opened a branch in Uzhhorod.
Centravis Holding Ltd. was established on the basis of Nikopol Stainless Pipe Plant CJSC, service and trading companies of Production and Commercial Enterprise YUVIS LLC. Its shareholders are members of the Atanasov family. Centravis Ltd. owns 100% of the shares in Centravis Production Ukraine.
