The U.S. Congress may soon make a decision regarding assistance to Ukraine. This concerns a package of over 60 billion dollars, which Republicans have been blocking since October 2023. The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, has already released his plan, which involves separate votes for assistance to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and national security priorities. This comes after former U.S. President Donald Trump emphasized that “Republicans are ready to support additional assistance to Ukraine if it is provided in the form of a loan.” Volodymyr Zelensky has already stated that Ukraine will agree to assistance in the form of a loan because “there is no choice”.
“First of all, when a loan is provided, it means that the creditor believes in the borrower. If the U.S. is willing to lend us these funds, it indicates that they believe in Ukraine and are not afraid to lend us money. Secondly, this is a positive sign to the entire global community, to other countries that are still hesitating whether to help Ukrainians,” says Denys Kostrzhevskyi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Kyiv” Airport.
He also stated that in the U.S., they support the idea of confiscating Russian assets for transfer to Ukraine. Therefore, theoretically, with the help of these funds or profits from frozen Russian money, loans could be repaid. But this process is too lengthy.
“We have to rely on our own strength as much as possible, focus on the reconstruction and revival of the economy in order to be able to return all the loans. And again, all creditors will be maximally interested in the victory of Ukraine, its recovery and development as soon as possible, so that Ukraine can return these funds to them, therefore, in my opinion, the idea of the loan is correct and promising,” says Denys Kostrzhevskyi.
But if the partners continue to delay the allocation of aid, Ukraine may not win the war, as the President said, and then no one will be compensated. And in the US they should clearly understand this. Therefore, if the US takes the first step in this direction, it can become an example for others, he concluded.
Reminder: On October 20, 2023, U.S. President Joe Biden submitted a request to Congress for additional funding in the amount of approximately $106 billion: $61.4 billion for Ukraine, $14.3 billion for Israel, and funds for security on the southern border of the United States. However, representatives of the Republican Party continue to block consideration of this document.
