US President Joe Biden has signed into law the badly needed military aid for Ukraine and said Washington will start sending new aid to Kiev within hours.
The approval of the USD 95 billion package, which also includes aid to Israel and Taiwan as well as a measure to potentially ban TikTok in the US, comes after months of delays in which Ukrainian forces have experienced ammunition shortages and battlefield setbacks.
"I just signed the national security package that was passed by the House of Representatives this weekend and by the Senate yesterday," Biden said, saying he was "making sure that deliveries begin immediately, in the next few hours," AFP reports.
"It will make America safer, it will make the world safer, and it will continue American leadership in the world," Biden said.
"It gives vital support to America's partners so they can defend themselves from threats to their sovereignty and to the lives and liberties of their citizens."
Biden also demanded that new humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip be authorized immediately.
"We will provide that aid immediately and we will increase it... including food, medical supplies, clean water."
"Israel must make sure that all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay," he said. / BGNES
