US Senate approves aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan

The US Senate approved a total of $95 billion foreign aid package, including $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine and $26 billion to Israel, and sent it to the White House. The foreign aid package, which the US House of Representatives approved last weekend and sent to the Senate, was accepted by 78 votes in favor to 18 votes in the Senate Plenary session late at night. The bill, which contains four separate bills and was combined into a single package in the Senate, was approved by an overwhelming majority of senators, while some Democrats, including independent Senator Bernie Sanders, opposed the support given to Israel, and some Republican senators opposed the support provided to Ukraine and voted no. The package, which was sent to the White House following Senate approval, allocates $61 billion for military support to Ukraine, $9 billion for humanitarian aid to war zones including Gaza, $26 billion for military support to Israel, and $8.1 billion for support to the Indo-Pacific region (Taiwan). The latest bill in the Senate-approved package also paves the way for the freezing of Russian assets in the US so they can be used to aid Ukraine and for TikTok to be banned in the US. Statement from Biden On the other hand, US President Joe Biden, who made a written statement about the bill, announced that he would sign the bill on Wednesday once it reaches his desk. Biden stated that after the bill becomes law, the US will send support to Ukraine as quickly as possible, and that military support will be provided to Israel "against the Iranian threat" and that they will send aid to various humanitarian crisis regions, including Gaza.