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Johnson announced "important innovations" in the package of assistance to Ukraine: what is it about
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson has announced "important innovations" in the package of support for Ukraine. In particular, it may include providing aid on credit, ostensibly to ease Republican concerns.
According to The Hill, in an interview with the program "Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy," Johnson emphasized the difficult position he is in, having a historically small majority in the House of Representatives. At the same time, he said that he has been working on the package all along and plans to bring it to the floor after the Easter recess on April 9, when the House resumes its session.
"Listen, what we need to do in an era of divided government – historically, as we are – you have to reach a consensus. If we want to take a bipartisan measure, I have to get every member involved, literally. And some things have to be bipartisan," Johnson said.
He added that work is underway "to build that consensus" and that the aid package "will have some important innovations."
Johnson cited the possibility of extending a loan to Ukraine, an idea that gained some support earlier this month, which the House speaker said could ease Republican concerns about providing additional aid.
He also mentioned the REPO for Ukrainians Act, which would allow the US president to seize Russian assets and transfer them to Ukraine.
"If we can use the confiscated assets of Russian oligarchs to allow Ukrainians to fight them, it's just pure poetry. Even President Trump has talked about the concept of a loan, whereby... we don't just provide foreign aid. We're building a relationship where they can pay it back to us when the time comes," Johnson said.
As a reminder, the approval of more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine by the US Congress is being blocked by Republicans in the House of Representatives. The White House has repeatedly warned that this would significantly harm Kyiv's military efforts on the battlefield.
As reported by OBOZ.UA, the day before, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner said that Johnson had promised to put up a package of aid to Ukraine for a vote after the Easter recess on April 9, and he also told the NATO Secretary General about it with words of support for Ukraine.
On March 28, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with Mike Johnson, describing the situation at the front and emphasizing that the rapid adoption of an aid package for Ukraine was critical.
In late March, the U.S. Government Accountability Office published an audit report on the aid given to Ukraine, recommending that the U.S. government introduce a process to better track funding.
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