Washington:
The U.S. House of Representatives’ decision to provide $61 billion in long-delayed aid to Ukraine shows the country will not become “a second Afghanistan,” President Zelensky said on Sunday.
The House of Representatives on Saturday approved the latest massive military and economic aid package for Ukraine, which has been struggling to fend off Russian forces more than two years since Moscow invaded its eastern European neighbor.
“This aid will strengthen Ukraine and send a strong signal to the Kremlin that it will not become a second Afghanistan.”
“The United States will stay in Ukraine, will protect Ukrainians, and … they will protect democracy around the world,” he added.
When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, sparking a Cold War-era insurgency, the United States funded and armed mujahedin fighters who drove Russian forces out of Afghanistan a decade later.
Afghanistan then descended into civil war, and soon the hardline Taliban came to power, ruling most of the country from 1996 to 2001.
That year, their decision to allow al Qaeda jihadist groups refuge led to the U.S. invasion after the September 11 attacks, sparking another insurgency.
Nearly 20 years later, the United States finally withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, leaving the Afghan army severely weakened and the Taliban returning to Kabul to seize power again.
Zelensky said some of his own forces were “exhausted” as well.
“We need to replace them. But these new brigades, they have to have the equipment,” he told the media.
The bill passed Saturday is the culmination of months of intense negotiations, pressure from U.S. allies and repeated requests for aid from Zelensky.
The United States has been Ukraine’s main military backer in its war with Russia, but Congress has not approved large-scale funding for its ally for nearly a year and a half, largely because of bipartisan bickering.
The delay weakens Kiev’s fight with Moscow as funds drawn from U.S. stockpiles have been exhausted.
The resulting gap has left Ukrainian forces lagging behind Moscow’s forces in numbers and weapons, lacking key supplies such as artillery and ammunition, leaving them vulnerable.
The bills must still be passed by the Senate and then signed by President Joe Biden, who has pledged to do so immediately, with the Pentagon adding that it would move quickly to provide aid to Ukraine.
“We really need to see this through to the end,” Zelensky said.
“We hope to get word as soon as possible so that we can get some tangible assistance to our soldiers on the front line as soon as possible. It won’t be possible for another six months.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
