Former US President Donald Trump said that the Republican Party is considering the possibility of resuming aid to Ukraine, but only as a loan. He said this on Friday at a joint press conference with the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson. Johnson and Trump, who are fellow party members, spoke to reporters after a meeting at the former president's Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida, TASS reported.
„As for the aid bill for Ukraine, if the president moves forward with it, we are looking at it right now and we are considering doing it in the form of a loan, not just a gift. We continue to give away billions and billions of dollars in gifts. Much more important to me is that Europe should step forward, it should give money, it should match the volume of military aid to Ukraine with the United States. If they don't, I will be very upset because they suffered much more than us”, he stressed.
Meanwhile, Trump, who will most likely be officially nominated by the US Republican Party as its presidential candidate in the upcoming November elections, expressed confidence that the conflict in Ukraine could not flare up under him. “The situation in Ukraine would never have happened if I had been president. And everyone is saying that, including the Democrats, it's causing outrage among people. "Millions of people on both sides are dying," says the 77-year-old politician.
The US administration earlier sent a request to Congress for additional appropriations in the 2024 fiscal year, which began in the United States on October 1, mainly to provide aid to Israel and Ukraine, as well as to counter China and Russia in the Asia-Pacific region. In total, the executive branch, led by US President Democrat Joe Biden, would like to receive about $106 billion for these purposes.
The further fate of the request and alternative bills remains unclear. Some Republicans in the US House of Representatives and Senate have come out in recent months against continuing financial support for Kiev. Johnson has consistently warned of his intention to link further aid to Ukraine with tightening controls along the US southern border.
The Senate, with the support of some Republicans, passed an alternative version of the bill on February 13, providing $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. However, this package does not contain provisions to tighten controls along the US southern border. Speaking to reporters on February 27 after a meeting between congressional leadership from both US establishment parties and Biden, Johnson assured that “The House of Representatives is actively seeking and exploring all possible options”, including resuming financial and military support for Kiev. Johnson then promised to deal with these problems in a timely manner, but did not indicate a time frame for consideration in the lower house of Congress of any initiatives aimed at continuing the allocation of budget funds to Ukraine. He called the "top priority" the southern border of the United States and ensuring its security.