Biden set to send Ukraine weapons seized from Iran as he admits he IS worried Kevin McCarthy’s ousting and chaos in the House will STOP Ukraine funding
Biden plans to send Ukrainian weapons seized from Iran as he admits he worries Kevin McCarthy’s impeachment and House chaos will STOP Ukraine’s funding
- Biden said he will announce a major speech on Ukraine soon
- He will explain why it is in the US interest to help the war-torn country
- “I know that a majority of House and Senate members in both parties have said they support funding Ukraine,” Biden said.
President Joe Biden said Wednesday he worries that the chaos in the House following the ouster of Kevin McCarthy as speaker will cut off funding for Ukraine, as a new report outlines a plan to move seized Iranian weapons to the war-torn country to send.
But, Biden added, he believes Republicans do support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
‘It worries me. But I know that there are a majority of members of the House of Representatives and the Senate in both parties who have said they support financing Ukraine,” Biden said.
The president also said he would soon deliver a major speech on Ukraine, explaining why it is important for the United States to support the war-torn country.
President Joe Biden said he will soon give a major speech on the importance of supporting Ukraine
“I’m going to announce very soon a major speech that I’m going to give on this issue and why it’s critical for the United States and our allies that we keep our promise,” Biden said.
He also said there are other ways to finance Ukraine — if Congress doesn’t appropriate them — but he gave no details and neither did the White House.
“We can support Ukraine with the next tranche we need. And there is another way we can find this, but I won’t go into that right now,” he said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not confirm that the new resource was weapons and ammunition seized by the United States from Iran.
The transfer of these materials is being made to alleviate some of the critical shortages the Ukrainian military faces as it waits for money and equipment from the US and its allies, US officials told CNN.
The US Central Command has already transferred more than one million seized Iranian munitions to the Ukrainian armed forces.
“I wouldn’t connect the two,” Jean-Pierre said of the seized gun and Biden’s statement about other means of support. “The U.S. Central Command and Navy consider these munitions in transit from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to militant groups in Yemen in violation of international law.”
The president called on his American allies on Tuesday to reassure them of America’s involvement in Ukraine.
But the administration will face an uphill battle over additional funding for Ukraine.
The issue has become a political hot potato for the Republican Party. Many conservatives are against it and argue that the money would be better spent domestically.
The vote to impeach McCarthy came just three days after he led the House in passing a stopgap bill to prevent a government shutdown that did not include new funding for Ukraine, fueling some Republicans’ reluctance to pass it to support a war-torn country.
Rep. Jim Jordan, one of the Republicans seeking to replace McCarthy as chairman, opposes funding for Ukraine.
“I’m against that,” Jordan said. “The most pressing problem for Americans isn’t Ukraine – it’s the border situation, it’s crime on the streets.”
The battle has begun in the House of Representatives to replace McCarthy, whose ouster as chairman has left the Republican Party in tatters and caused chaos on Capitol Hill.
In addition to Jordan, Steve Scalise, the number two leader of the Republican Party, announced a run.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets Kevin McCarthy when he visited Capitol Hill last month
President Biden denounced the chaos on Capitol Hill
Biden decried the chaos emerging as Congress faces a new Nov. 17 deadline to avoid a government shutdown.
“The dysfunction always concerns me,” he said.
“We must change the toxic atmosphere in Washington,” the president said. ‘You know, we have big differences, but we should stop seeing each other as enemies. We have to talk to each other, listen to each other, work together.’
When Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz filed his motion to begin the process to impeach McCarthy, he accused the then-chairman of having a “secret deal” with President Biden to finance Ukraine.
McCarthy denied there was a deal. The White House has repeatedly declined to provide details of the deal Biden claimed to have struck.