Thursday, June 4th, saw the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress vote 226 to 195 for the Ukraine Support Act.
The Act includes measures to help fund postwar reconstruction in Ukraine, and agrees more than $1 billion (€862,400,000) in assistance for Kyiv and up to $8 billion (nearly €7billion) in support via direct loans.
Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, took to social media with a post calling the decision
an important step forward and (which) reflects continued bipartisan support for Ukraine.
In theory, the measure would mean renewed aid to Ukraine and will impose new sanctions on Russia. The sight of some Republicans ’crossing the floor’ in defiance of their party leaders has been interpreted as a pushback against President Donald Trump. A handful of GOP politicians joined Democrats, signing a discharge petition to force the vote.
To become law, the Ukraine Support Act would need to pass in the Senate, where previously Republican leaders have blocked votes on Russia sanctions legislation, preferring to wait for guidance from Trump—who would likely veto any such legislation even if it cleared Congress.
The vote broadly coincided with the publication of an open letter from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, inviting direct peace talks between the two warring states.
