On Saturday, members of the US Congress pledged $10 billion in aid to Ukraine during a virtual exchange with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who in turn renewed his request for Soviet-made aircraft.
“We are united to support Ukraine”
“We will quickly release this 10 billion to help the Ukrainian people economically, humanitarianly and security,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told him, according to a source familiar with the Zoom discussions. “This call was attended by elected officials of the Senate and the House (representatives – ed.), Republicans and Democrats. We are united in supporting Ukraine,” Republican Senator Steve Danes added on Fox News. “We have to vote for this 10 billion aid, which will be half humanitarian, half military,” he added.
For his part, President Zelensky has called for tougher economic sanctions against Russia, including a ban on Russian oil and gas imports and a suspension of Visa and Mastercard credit cards in Russia, according to elected officials. He also “made an urgent appeal to the countries of Eastern Europe to provide him with Russian-made aircraft … and I will do my best to have the administration facilitate their transfer,” Chuck added in a statement.
“Let’s give them the planes and drones they need”
“Some NATO countries have planes that Ukrainians can fly, but the United States appears to be part of the problem, not the solution,” said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, however, in a video posted on Twitter. “Let’s give them the planes and drones they need,” he continued without further explanation.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said last Sunday that EU countries are ready to supply MiG-type fighters, which Ukrainian pilots know how to handle, but interested countries, including Bulgaria, Poland or Slovakia, then showed great restraint.