Biden and Trump took very different approaches to Ukraine during the campaign.
Washington:
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that Congress would be playing into the hands of the Kremlin if it failed to provide new funding for Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression, accusing Donald Trump of playing politics with U.S. national security.
Biden warned that “the clock is ticking” on Ukraine.
The U.S. president has accused Trump, his expected November election opponent, of pressuring Republican lawmakers not to pass a $118 billion bill that would fund Ukraine’s military in exchange for strict Republican demands U.S. immigration restrictions.
“We can’t walk away now. This is Putin’s bet,” Biden said. “Supporting this bill is going against Putin. Opposing this bill plays into his hands.”
He said the immigration portion of the bill includes “the toughest set of reforms ever to secure the border.”
While Republicans insist on making a crackdown on immigration a condition for continued U.S. aid to pro-Western Ukraine, they are now responding to pressure from Trump by making clear they will not help Democrats pass the massive bill.
This would reduce Ukraine’s chances of acquiring much-needed weapons and ammunition as it enters its third year of resisting a full-scale Russian invasion.
It also means that hard-negotiated measures to strengthen the U.S.-Mexico border and stem undocumented immigration, despite initial approval from senior Republican and Democratic senators, will be abandoned.
-“They were caving”-
“A majority of our members don’t think we can write the law here,” Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged in remarks to reporters on Tuesday.
Biden said Trump, whose campaign to return to the White House was largely based on his anti-immigration platform and claims the southern border was being “invaded,” was exploiting the crisis to boost his electoral chances.
“Donald Trump thinks this is bad for him politically. So … even though it’s helpful to his country, he doesn’t approve of it,” Biden said. “He would rather weaponize the problem than actually solve it.”
“As far as I know, he’s done nothing in the last 24 hours but reach out to Republicans in the House and Senate and threaten them and try to intimidate them,” Biden said. “It looks like they’re in a cave.”
Trump has been ramping up his attacks on the bill for weeks, undermining the influence of his own party leaders as they inch toward compromise on the border that would open the door to Ukraine aid.
“Don’t be stupid!!! We need a separate border and immigration bill. It should not be tied to foreign aid in any way, shape or form!” Trump issued one of his many warnings to Republican lawmakers This warning.
Biden and Trump took sharply different approaches to Ukraine on the campaign trail, with the Democrat making clear that helping the pro-Western ally repel Russia was crucial to ensuring a safer world, while his predecessor pushed for isolationism “America First” policy.
At home, Biden has pressed for humane immigration policies, but Republicans have pointed to statistics showing a record 302,000 immigrants were apprehended in December, a surge that Trump has made a major issue in the campaign.
The deal unveiled by senators on Sunday is part of a bipartisan $118 billion immigration restriction package that Biden has pledged to sign into law. It is tied to a foreign aid package that includes $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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