President Biden asks for $33 billion in additional Ukraine funds from Congress

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks alongside Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the East Room of the White House, March 29, 2022, in Washington. The Biden administration is launching what it says is a one-stop website that will help people in the United States access COVID-19 tests, vaccines and treatments, along with status updates on infection rates where they live. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File )

A week after announcing $800 million in military assistance and $500 million in economic aid, President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass additional funding to support Ukraine.

Biden called on Congress to provide $33 billion in additional aid.

“The cost of this fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen,” Biden said in an address Thursday.

White House press secretary told reporters Wednesday that Biden will send a formal request to Congress by the end of the week. Psaki added that the funding would be enough to support Ukraine through the end of the year.

“It will include, as our past packages have included, security or military assistance, humanitarian, economic assistance, given those, in our view, will help address a range of the needs the Ukrainians have,” she said.

Biden signed a bill in March that included more than $13 billion in aid for Ukraine.

The funding request comes after two members of the Biden cabinet — Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin — visited Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The two pledged ongoing American support for the nation’s battle against Russia.

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