President Joe Biden pledged on Tuesday to increase American humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people so that European countries don’t have to bear the full cost and burden.
“The United States will be responsible for taking care of the refugees so that the costs do not fall entirely on the European countries bordering Ukraine,” Biden said during a speech at the White House.
Ukraine is experiencing a humanitarian crisis due to the invasion of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
So far, 2 million people have fled Ukraine in what the United Nations has called the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II.
Since February 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine, more than 1,000 Ukrainian civilians have died.
Ukraine is experiencing a humanitarian crisis due to the invasion of Russian President Vladimir Putin – over a young woman in a shelter in a school gym in Przemysl, Poland
Neighboring countries are flooded with refugees – mostly women and children – over refugees boarding a train at Chlem train station in Poland after crossing the border into Ukraine
Poland has taken in more Ukrainians than any other neighboring country – a refugee center for Ukrainians in Warsaw, Poland
President Joe Biden has pledged to increase US humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine so that European nations don’t have to bear the full cost.
The besieged cities lack food and other basic necessities. In addition, about 700,000 people are without electricity and heat after the destruction of infrastructure.
Another million Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes and become internally displaced, according to the UN.
The UN indicated that it took one week for the number of refugees to reach one million, and in just five days the figure has doubled since then.
Neighboring countries are flooded with refugees, mostly women and children, and Poland has taken in more Ukrainians than any other neighboring country.
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Poland on Wednesday.
Hungary, Slovakia and Romania each received tens of thousands of refugees, while other European countries received a total of about 210,000 refugees.
To ease Europe’s financial burden, Biden on Tuesday urged Congress to pass a $10 million aid package he has requested for Ukraine.
“We are working with humanitarian organizations to send tens of thousands of tons of food, water, medicines to Ukraine. There is more to come,” the president said.
Congress is expected to decide on the aid package this week.
Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill are finalizing a package of humanitarian, military and economic aid for Ukraine. It will be tied to the US Government Funding Bill, legislation that Congress must pass by midnight Friday or the federal government will be shut down.
That figure could reach $14 billion, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said Tuesday.
Ukrainian refugees are waiting for an appointment at the registration and shelter center at the former Jules Borde hospital in Brussels.
Vladislava, 7, and David, 3, from Zhytomyr, Ukraine, huddle together to keep warm after crossing the border in Dorohusk, Poland.
People arrive at temporary housing and a transport hub for refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Przemysl, Poland.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken (left) and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba speak to media after meeting with refugees at the Ukrainian-Polish border crossing in Korczew, Poland, on Saturday.
Biden did not specifically say in his speech that the United States would accept refugees within its borders.
Last week, the Biden administration granted Ukrainians already in the US temporary protection status (TPS), which protects them from deportation and allows them to obtain work permits for 18 months.
Secretary of State Etoni Blinken visited the border between Poland, Ukraine and Moldova on Saturday to visit refugee camps.
On Saturday, Blinken visited a reception center set up by Polish authorities in a former shopping mall in Korczowa, near the border with Ukraine, where some 3,000 refugees have taken refuge.
“The United States is committed to doing everything in our power, first of all to support the countries that bear the direct burden of receiving Ukrainians, and then, if appropriate, if people will seek refugee status in the United States, of course, we will look into this and, I’m sure, act on that,” Blinken told CNN on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has come under fire for the number of refugees it has taken in so far.
Ministers have been criticized for the slow pace of processing applications amid wider calls for the UK to put in place a more generous scheme to help people fleeing the Russian invasion.