[Text: Observer.com, Li Zexi].
On the 13th local time, the U.S. Senate passed a bill worth $95 billion with 70 votes in favor and 29 votes against, mainly to aid Ukraine and Israel, but facing huge difficulties in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Biden in the United States, Zelensky in Ukraine and others have called on the US House of Representatives to pass the bill as soon as possible. According to Reuters 14**, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also joined the ranks and called on the US House of Representatives to pass the bill as soon as possible, saying that "China is paying close attention."
Stoltenberg said that he expects the US House of Representatives to pass the bill as soon as possible, "if Russia ** Putin wins in Ukraine, this will send a signal to him and others that the goal can be achieved by force, so it will make the world more dangerous", and also specifically said that "Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow, so China is closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine".
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
China has previously stated that since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, China has always stood on the merits of the conflict, adhered to objectivity and fairness, will continue to promote peace talks, provide China's wisdom for the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, and work with the international community to promote dialogue and consultation, address the concerns of all parties and seek common security. At the same time, China urges relevant countries to immediately stop adding fuel to the fire, stop shifting blame to China, and stop clamoring for "Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow".
The U.S. Senate passed the aid bill for Ukraine and Israel on the 13th, including $60.1 billion for aid to Ukraine, which means that the U.S. aid to Ukraine will increase to $170 billion since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. In addition, the bill includes $14.1 billion in aid to Israel and nearly $10 billion in humanitarian assistance in conflict zones.
However, while the bill passed the Senate with ease, it faces a more difficult situation in the House of Representatives, and many Republicans, including Trump, have expressed strong opposition to the bill because of its problems such as increasing the size of the debt.
Trump has also been "not cold" to NATO, and on the 10th threatened to "do not care" NATO member states whose military spending does not meet the standard, and on the same day he also posted on his social ** platform "truth social" that "we can no longer send money without return or 'strings attached', and the United States should no longer act as a wrongdoer."
Stoltenberg responded to this on the 14th, saying that in 2024, 18 NATO member states will achieve the goal of 2% of GDP in military spending, and Europe as a whole will achieve the goal of military spending of 2% of GDP on average for the first time in recent years. He once again claimed that aid to Ukraine "is not charity, but an investment in our own security."
He also said that while Europe and Canada are trying to continue to help Ukraine, "the contribution of the United States is still crucial." Although the European Union passed a bill this month to provide Ukraine with a financial subsidy of 50 billion euros, for Ukraine this amount "does not seem to be enough," according to Politico.
The defense ministers of NATO countries will discuss defense spending, ammunition production and aid to Ukraine in Brussels on the 15th local time, and prepare for the NATO summit in Washington in July.
In addition to Stoltenberg, Biden has said on the 13th that the bill is "vital to the interests of the United States" and called on the House of Representatives to pass the bill as soon as possible, because "every day we don't act, the greater the loss." The New York Times previously reported that the United States' delay in passing a bill to further aid Ukraine has had a substantial impact on the war situation. Ukraine** Zelensky also thanked "all the US senators who made a morally strong choice" on the same day, expecting the House of Representatives to make the same choice in order to defend "our common security".
In response to the bill passed by the Senate to aid Ukraine and Israel, Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, said on the 14th that "we will not be forced to act by the Senate", and once again emphasized that the national security bill should include provisions to deal with the US-Mexico border issue. The New York Times reported that right-wing Republican lawmakers have threatened Johnson with voting to remove him if he concedes to the Democrats.
U.S. House Speaker Johnson (left).
According to the "punchbowl" news report, Johnson also said that he will definitely not submit the aid bill to the House of Representatives in the near future, because "we are dealing with the budget drafting process, and the House of Representatives will deal with these more pressing issues."
In fact, the United States will soon usher in another "** shutdown" threshold, the temporary spending bill passed in January will expire in March, and some ** departments may close their doors on March 1. The January interim spending bill was meant to give Congress more time to draft its fiscal year 2024 budget. The Hill reported that "substantial progress has finally been made in the drafting of the budget for the full year" as the two parties have agreed on the overall spending amount, but the two parties remain divided on issues such as the tax revenue, election security, and the House of Representatives has been distracted by other matters such as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas during this period. Johnson insisted on the 14th that he believed that the annual budget could be passed on time. However, the Republican whip of the House of Representatives said on the same day that there will be an adjournment from the 16th to the 27th, which means that if Congress does not pass the temporary spending bill or the annual budget on the 15th, Congress must act on the 28th to avoid a shutdown.
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