The House passes aid, but Ukraine still has problems

For Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his troops on the front line, relief is hopefully coming soon.

On Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives muscled through a $61 billion military aid package at a time when Russian forces are continuing to chip away at Ukrainian positions in the east. After six months of intense discussions between House Speaker Mike Johnson and his fractious Republican conference, Johnson put the Ukraine aid legislation on the floor, knowing it wouldn’t sit well with the far right wing of the party. In the end, the House passed the legislation, sending it back to the Senate for consideration

Ukraine and its backers in Washington and Europe were thrilled. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took to X to congratulate the House for moving the bill after six long months. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pressed the Senate to quickly take up the legislation, adding that it doing so would show Russian President Vladimir Putin that his assumption about outlasting the West was a bad bet. Zelenskyy was the happiest of them all, jumping on American television the morning after the vote and asserting that the new infusion of military assistance means that Ukraine has a chance at victory.

Read article in The Chicago Tribune