President Zelensky says Ukraine aid deal passed by US House will ‘save thousands of lives’

US President Joe Biden welcomes Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on the South Lawn of the White House in December 2022 (Picture: AFP via Getty)

Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked the US House of Representatives for approving a $60.8bn (£49bn) aid package for Ukraine, saying it will ‘save thousands and thousands of lives’.

Embattled Speaker Mike Johnson ignored hardliners in his own Republican party threatening to oust him in order to push forward the bill.

It will now move to the Democrat-majority Senate, which is expected to pass the measure and send it to President Joe Biden who said the deal ‘comes at a moment of grave urgency’ and pledged to sign it ‘immediately’.

Writing on X, President Zelensky posted: ‘I am grateful to the United States House of Representatives, both parties, and personally Speaker Mike Johnson for the decision that keeps history on the right track.’

He said the bill ‘will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger’.

The unusual four-bill package also provides $60.84 billion to address the conflict in Ukraine, including $23 billion to replenish US weapons, stocks and facilities; $26 billion for Israel, including $9.1 billion for humanitarian needs, and $8.12 billion for the Indo-Pacific. 

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson ignored hardliners in his own Republican party threatening to oust him in order to push forward the bill (Picture: Getty Images)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks to reporters outside of the US Capitol Building (Picture: Getty)

Far-right Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene told reporters afterwards: ‘Mike Johnson is a lame duck … he’s done.’

She has been a leading opponent of helping Ukraine in its war against Russia and has taken steps that threaten to remove Johnson from office over this issue.

Greene stopped short of doing so on Saturday, however.

She had earlier tabled an amendment to reduce the size of the Ukraine aid budget to $0.

American and Ukrainian flags fly near the US Capitol on April 20 (Picture: Getty)

CIA Director Bill Burns said this past week that moving fast is crucial when it comes to delivering weapons to Ukraine.

He warned that without additional aid from the US, Ukraine could lose the war to Russia by the end of this year.

Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said: ‘We would like very much to be able to rush the security assistance in the volumes we think they need to be able to be successful.’

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He told reporters that once it is signed off by the president ‘we have a very robust logistics network that enables us to move material very quickly’.

‘We can move within days,’ he added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said passage of the bill would ‘further ruin’ Ukraine and result in more deaths in the conflict.

Peskov also told Tass news agency that a provision in the legislation allowing US lawmakers to confiscate seized Russian assets and transfer them to Ukraine for reconstruction would tarnish the image of the United States.

Russia, he said, would respond with measures in its own interests.

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