WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Friday that the apparent death of Russian anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny adds new urgency to the need for Congress to approve tens of billions of dollars for Ukraine to stave off Moscow’s invasion.
Biden said at the White House that regardless of the cause, he holds Russian President Vladimir Putin responsible for Navalny’s death. He added, “I hope it helps” in pushing U.S. lawmakers to send more aid to Ukraine.
Biden said lawmakers in the House of Representatives are “keeping an eye on history,” which has taken no steps to pass a Senate-passed bill that would send money and armaments to Ukraine, whose troops, according to U.S. battlefield officials are running low on crucial ammunition. .
“The failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten,” Biden said. “And the clock is ticking. This must happen. We have to help now.â€
Biden said the US had not confirmed Navalny’s death in a Russian prison above the Arctic Circle, but he also had no reason to doubt it.
The president has sharply criticized Republicans in the House of Representatives for allowing the House to enter a two-week recess without adjusting Ukraine’s financing.
“What are they thinking, my God,” Biden said. “This is bizarre and it only reinforces the concern — I won’t say panic, but real concern — that the United States is a responsible ally.”
Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier this week that the House will not be “rushed” to approve the aid, but on Friday he said Putin “was a cruel dictator and the world knows he is probably directly responsible for the sudden death from his father’. most prominent political opponent.â€
“We must be clear that Putin will face united opposition,” Johnson, R-La., said in a statement. “As Congress debates the best path forward to support Ukraine, the United States and our partners must use all available tools to cut off Putin’s ability to stop his unprovoked war in Ukraine and his aggression against the Baltic states to finance.â€
Lawmakers who have pushed for aid to Ukraine blamed Republicans, who sided with former President Donald Trump, for pushing for its defeat.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said, “Shame on the pro-Putin MAGA extremists who continue to block bipartisan national security legislation in the House of Representatives,” referring to Trump’s “Make American Great Again” slogan.
Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, one of 22 Republicans who voted for the Senate-approved Ukraine aid package, said Navalny gave his life fighting for a country he loved and that “Putin was a murderous, paranoid dictator is.”
“History will not be kind to those in America who apologize for Putin and praise Russia’s autocracy,” Tillis wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Also, history will not be kind to America’s leaders who remain silent because they fear backlash from online pundits.”
Biden, eyeing a likely rematch of the general election against Trump in November, said US presidents from Harry Truman on down would “turn in their graves” upon hearing Trump’s comments suggesting the US should support its NATO allies who are not there may not be able to achieve their defense spending targets. as if attacked.
“As long as I am president, America will continue to hold true to its sacred commitment to our allies,” Biden said.