The decision of the US House of Representatives to provide long-delayed aid to Ukraine shows that the country will not become a "second Afghanistan", President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
On Saturday, the House of Representatives approved a package of $61 billion in military and economic aid for Ukraine, which is fighting against the Russian invasion.
"This aid will strengthen Ukraine and send a powerful signal to the Kremlin that this will not be the second Afghanistan," Zelensky said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" program. "The United States will stand with Ukraine, protect Ukrainians and ... protect democracy in the world," he added.
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, sparking a Cold War-era insurgency in which the U.S. funded and armed mujahideen that drove out Russian forces a decade later. Afghanistan then descended into civil war, and soon the hardline Taliban took power, ruling the country from 1996 to 2001. That year, their decision to allow the jihadist group al-Qaeda to hit the US with the 9/11 attacks forced Washington to attack the country.
Nearly 20 years later, the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan, leaving the Afghan army in a weakened state for the Taliban to retake power.
Zelensky said some of his own forces were also "depleted". "We have to replace them. But these new brigades must have equipment. We really have to get to the bottom line. We want to do things as quickly as possible so that we get tangible help to the soldiers on the front lines as soon as possible. Not in another six months," Zelensky also told Meet the Press. / BGNES, AFP
