US Senate passes Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan bill; Biden to sign on Wednesday

The United States Senate has passed a long-delayed multibillion-dollar aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, paving the way for new weapons deliveries to Kyiv as soon as this week.

The Democratic-controlled Senate passed the measure, held up for months by right-wing Republicans and part of a four-bill package, by 79 votes to 18 late on Tuesday night in the US.

“I will sign this bill into law and address the American people as soon as it reaches my desk tomorrow so we can begin sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week,” President Joe Biden said in a statement shortly afterwards.

Much of the assistance in the $95bn package is for Ukraine, which has struggled to fend off Russian forces along its 1,000km (600-mile) front line as weapons have dwindled.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed its final passage.

“Ukraine’s long-range capabilities, artillery, and air defence are critical tools for restoring just peace sooner,” he wrote on social media, saying the move reinforced “America’s role as a beacon of democracy and leader of the free world”.

The bill is worth $61bn to Ukraine but also provides $26bn for Israel, as well as humanitarian assistance in Gaza, Sudan and Haiti, as well as more than $8bn in military support for Taiwan, the democratic island China claims as its own.

Taipei has said it will discuss with the US how to use the funding. Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, which has not ruled out the use of force to take control of the island, said it “resolutely opposes” the inclusion of what it called “Taiwan-related content” in the aid package.