WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Congress will be playing into the Putin’s hands if it fails to renew funding for Ukraine’s fight against Russian invasion.
He also blamed Donald Trump for playing politics with US national security. The “clock is ticking” for Ukraine, warned Biden.
The US president called out Trump – his expected rival in the November election – for pressuring Republican lawmakers not to pass a $118 billion bill that would fund Ukraine’s military in exchange for tough curbs on US immigration, a Republican demand.
“We can’t leave now. That’s what Putin is betting on,” Biden said. “Supporting this law will stand up to Putin. Disagreeing with this law plays into his hands.”
The immigration portion of the bill, he said, included “the toughest set of border security reforms ever.”
Despite insisting on cracking down on immigration as a condition for restoring US aid to pro-Western Ukraine, Republicans have now responded to Trump’s pressure by making it clear they will not help Democrats pass the massive bill.
This will sink Ukraine’s chances of obtaining desperately needed weapons and ammunition as it enters its third year of resisting an all-out Russian invasion.
It also means hard-negotiated measures to tighten the US-Mexico border and bar undocumented migrants will be abandoned, despite initial approval from top Republican and Democratic senators.
Biden said Trump, who is running to return to the White House largely on his anti-immigrant platform and says the southern border is suffering from an “invasion,” is using the crisis to boost his electoral chances.
“Donald Trump thinks it’s bad for him politically. Therefore… even though it helps his country, he’s not for it,” Biden said.
