The Kremlin warned that American support for Ukraine could turn into a decade-long folly, urging the U.S. to not oppose its invasion of the country as Congress appears set to pass a $60 billion aid package.

The aid deal comes after months of negotiations, with support for Ukraine wavering among American conservatives as the Russian military gains ground after two years of fighting.

“Washington’s deeper and deeper immersion in the hybrid war against Russia will turn into a loud and humiliating fiasco for United States such as Vietnam and Afghanistan,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, Reuters reported.

The House passed a broad foreign aid spending bill on Saturday that includes funds for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan for a total of $95 billion. The Senate is expected to easily pass the measure, which President Biden supports.

Ukrainian leaders and American military experts, including CIA Director William Burns, have urged Congress to fund Ukraine aid for months, given gains by the Russian military. Burns warned last week that Ukrainian soldiers are running out of arms and could not defend against Russia alone.

“With the boost that would come from military assistance‚ both practically and psychologically — Ukrainians are entirely capable of holding their own through 2024 and puncturing Putin’s arrogant view that time is on his side,” Burns said Thursday.

“Without supplemental assistance, this picture is a lot more dire, and there is a very real risk that the Ukrainians could lose on the battlefield by the end of 2024,” he continued. “Or at least put Putin in a position where he could essentially dictate the terms of a political settlement.”

The U.S. and NATO allies have refused to send their own troops to Ukraine, the fundamental difference between the conflict and those in Vietnam and Afghanistan.

Ukraine, Israel, TikTok: the massive aid package before US Congress

The US House of Representatives on Saturday approved a giant aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and a bill threatening to ban TikTok.

Here is a breakdown of the $95 billion package, which now moves to the Senate, where it could be taken up as early as Tuesday.

- Ukraine -

The majority of funds in the package, nearly $61 billion, are earmarked for Ukraine's war effort against the Russian invasion. President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pleading for this money for months, warning that "if Congress does not help Ukraine, Ukraine will lose the war."

Washington is Kyiv's main military supporter, but Congress has not passed a major aid package for its ally since December 2022 due to partisan squabbling.

The bill passed Saturday would provide nearly $14 billion to train, equip and finance the needs of the Ukrainian army.

Ukraine would also receive $10 billion in "forgivable loans" for vital economic and budgetary support, including for the energy and infrastructure sectors.

The idea of a loan, rather than a grant, was suggested by former president Donald Trump, who believes the United States should stop handing out money without any payback. A "forgivable loan" can be partly or fully forgiven or deferred under certain conditions.

A large chunk of this money will also go to replenishing US military stockpiles.

The bill also authorizes the US president to confiscate and sell Russian assets in order to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine, an idea that is also gaining traction with other G7 countries.

- Israel -

The United States' historic ally Israel will receive $13 billion in military assistance as it fights Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

These funds will be used in particular to strengthen Israel's Iron Dome air defense system.

More than $9 billion will be spent to address "the dire need for humanitarian assistance for Gaza as well as other vulnerable populations around the world."

The measure, however, would prohibit any direct US funding of the UN crisis-hit Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA). Israel has accused some of the agency employees in Gaza of involvement in the shocking October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas, which triggered the war.

- Taiwan, TikTok -

The bill would provide some $8 billion to counter China through investment in submarine infrastructure and boosting competition with Chinese projects in developing countries.

The bill also earmarks several billion dollars in weapons funding for Taiwan, a self-ruled island that is claimed by China.

Another bill passed Saturday would force TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a nationwide ban in the United States.

American officials have voiced alarm over the popularity of TikTok with young people, alleging that it is subservient to Beijing and a conduit to spread propaganda, claims denied by the company and Beijing.

Ukrainian and Western leaders laud US aid package while the Kremlin warns of 'further ruin'

Ukrainian and Western leaders on Sunday welcomed a desperately needed aid package passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, as the Kremlin warned that passage of the bill would “further ruin” Ukraine and cause more deaths.

Ukrainian commanders and analysts say the long-awaited $61 billion military aid package — including $13.8 billion for Ukraine to buy weapons — will help slow Russia’s incremental advances in the war's third year — but that more will likely be needed for Kyiv to regain the offensive.

The House swiftly approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had warned that his country would lose the war without U.S. funding, said that he was grateful for U.S. lawmaker' decision.

Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Zelenskyy said that the aid package would “send the Kremlin a powerful signal that (Ukraine) will not be the second Afghanistan.”

Zelenskyy said Ukraine would prioritize long-range weapons and air defenses to “break the plans of Russia” in an expected “full-scale offensive," for which Ukrainian forces are preparing.

The aid package will go to the U.S. Senate, which could pass it as soon as Tuesday. U.S. President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.

It still could take weeks for it to reach the front line, where it is desperately needed.

"With this we can stop (Russian troops) and reduce our losses," said infantry soldier Oleksandr. He has been fighting around Avdiivka, the city in the Donetsk region that Ukraine lost to Russia in February after months of intense combat.

Ammunition shortages linked to the aid holdup over the past six months have led Ukrainian military commanders to ration shells, a disadvantage that Russia seized on this year — taking the city of Avdiivka and currently inching towards the town of Chasiv Yar, also in Donetsk.

“The Russians come at us in waves — we become exhausted, we have to leave our positions. This is repeated many times,” Oleksandr told The Associated Press. He didn't give his full name for security reasons. “Not having enough ammunition means we can’t cover the area that is our responsibility to hold when they are assaulting us.”

In Kyiv, many welcomed the U.S. vote as a piece of good news after a tough period that has seen Russia grind out gains along the front line, and step up attacks on Ukraine's energy system and other infrastructure.

“I heard our president officially say that we can lose the war without this help. Thanks very much and yesterday was a great event," said Kateryna Ruda, 43.

Tatyana Ryavchenuk, the wife of a Ukrainian soldier, noted the need for more weapons, lamenting that soldiers “have nothing to protect us."

"They need weapons, they need gear, they need it. We always need help. Because without help, our enemy can advance further and can be in the center of our city,” the 26-year-old said.

Other Western leaders, who have been scrambling to come up with ways to fill the gap left by stalled U.S. military aid, also lauded Congress' decision.

“Ukraine is using the weapons provided by NATO Allies to destroy Russian combat capabilities. This makes us all safer, in Europe & North America,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg posted on X.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that “Ukraine deserves all the support it can get against Russia,” and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the vote it “a strong signal in these times.”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk thanked House Speaker Mike Johnson, while also noting the holdup in Congress. “Better late than too late. And I hope it is not too late for Ukraine,” he wrote on X.

In Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Saturday called the approval of aid to Ukraine “expected and predictable.”

The decision “will make the United States of America richer, further ruin Ukraine and result in the deaths of even more Ukrainians, the fault of the Kyiv regime,” Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

“The new aid package will not save, but, on the contrary, will kill thousands and thousands more people, prolong the conflict, and bring even more grief and devastation,” Leonid Slutsky, head of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs, wrote on Telegram.

Washington-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War said the logistics of getting U.S. assistance to the front line would mean that “Ukrainian forces may suffer additional setbacks" while waiting for it to arrive.

“But they will likely be able to blunt the current Russian offensive assuming the resumed U.S. assistance arrives promptly," it said in its latest assessment of the conflict.

Olexiy Haran, professor of comparative politics at the National University of Kyiv-Mohlya Academy, said that Ukraine was grateful for aid from the U.S. and other Western countries, “but the problem is, frankly speaking, it’s too late and it’s not enough."

“This is the third year of the war and we still don’t have aviation, new aviation. We don’t have enough missiles, so we cannot close the skies. Moreover, recently we didn’t have even artillery shells," he said.

“That’s why the situation was very, very difficult and the Russians used it to start their offensive. So that’s why it is so important for us. And definitely if we’d received it half a year before, we would have saved the lives of many Ukrainians, civilians included.”

Matthew Savill, military sciences director at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said that the aid, while welcome, “can probably only help stabilize the Ukrainian position for this year and begin preparations for operations in 2025.”

“Predictability of funding through 2024 and into 2025 will help the Ukrainians plan the defense this year, especially if European supplies of ammunition also come through, but further planning and funds will be required for 2025, and we have a U.S. election between now and then,” he said.

Responding to a question on NBC about how long Ukraine will still need aid packages, Zelenskyy said "it depends on when we actually get weapons on the ground.”

“The decision to supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, we had it a year ago," he said. "We still don’t have the jets in Ukraine.”

In other developments:

— On the ground, Russia's Defense Ministry said Sunday that its troops had taken control of the village of Bohdanivka in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian officials haven't yet commented.

— One person was killed and four others were wounded in Russian shelling in Ukrainsk on Sunday, according to the prosecutor's office in Ukraine's partially occupied Donetsk region. In the Odesa region, four people were wounded in a missile attack, Gov. Oleh Kiper said.

— Two suspects were detained Sunday after two Ukrainian soldiers killed a police officer at a checkpoint in the Vinnytsia region. The soldiers opened fire on Maksym Zaretskyi, 20, early Saturday after he stopped their car for a routine inspection. Zaretskyi’s partner was wounded but survived. The head of Ukraine’s National Police, Ivan Vyhovsky, said the suspects, a father and son aged 52 and 26, were detained in Ukraine’s Odesa region.

$60 billion military aid for Ukraine approved by US House of Representatives

Activists supporting Ukraine demonstrate outside the Capitol in Washington - 

The US House of Representatives has passed a major package of military aid for Ukraine after a six-month hold-up in a move Volodymyr Zelensky praised for keeping “history on the right track”.

Democrats waved Ukrainian flags on the floor of the House as the bill authorising $60 billion (£48.5 billion) in lethal aid to be sent from US stockpiles passed by 311 votes to 112,

Joe Biden’s plan to send aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan had been held up in Congress for six months, amid opposition from Republicans who argued the war with Russia had become too expensive.

Mike Johnson, the House Speaker, put the Ukraine bill to representatives on Saturday alongside separate votes on other foreign funding. It will now pass to the Senate for approval.

Mr Zelensky welcomed the news in a post on X, where he said he was “personally grateful” to Mr Johnson for “the decision that keeps history on the right track”.

“Democracy and freedom will always have global significance and will never fail as long as America helps to protect it,” he said.

“The vital US aid bill passed today by the House will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger.

“Just peace and security can only be attained through strength.”

Military officials in Ukraine, the US and other Western countries had warned that without further American aid, Kyiv will lose significant territory to Russia this year.

Last week, Gen Christopher Cavoli, the US military commander in Europe, warned that Russia was outgunning Ukraine by five to one on the front line, and that the figure would soon rise to 10 to one.

Other allies, including the UK, had increased their support in an attempt to make up the shortfall, but face supply chain issues in European arms factories.

Welcoming the news, President Biden said: “Today, members of both parties in the House voted to advance our national security interests and send a clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage.

“At this critical inflection point, they came together to answer history’s call, passing urgently needed national security legislation that I have fought for months to secure.”

He added that the package “comes at a moment of grave urgency, with Israel facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine under continued bombardment from Russia”.

Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, said the bill was a “vital step forward”.

“If Putin ever doubted the West’s resolve to back Ukraine, this shows our collective will is undimmed,” he said.  “With support, Ukraine can and will win.”

Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, added that the package would “make us all safer”.

“Ukraine is using the weapons provided by NATO allies to destroy Russian combat capabilities,” he said.

The Kremlin said it would lead to more deaths in Ukraine.

“It will further enrich the United States of America and ruin Ukraine even more, by killing even more Ukrainians,” said Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, according to state news agency TASS.

The package of measures totals $95 billion (£77 billion), and will be put to a vote in the Senate, which the Democratic majority leader Chuck Schumer has suggested could take place on Tuesday.

The House also passed a bill that would force ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, to sell the platform or face being banned from app stores in the US.

Another vote approved measures to sanction China, Russia and Iran, and to send aid to Taiwan.

A $26 billion package for Israel will be used to replenish supplies for the country’s Iron Dome missile defence system, while another package of humanitarian aid will be sent to Gaza.

All of the votes will form one bill when they have been approved by the Senate this week.

Mr Biden has said he will sign it as soon as it reaches his desk, allowing the Pentagon to reallocate US weapons stockpiles as soon as possible.

The US president has been constrained in the funding and weapons he can offer Kyiv since the last of the existing funding ran out at the end of last year.

The White House has attempted to continue its support through other routes, but has been unable to send already manufactured weapons.

Despite the victory, Mr Johnson faces significant opposition to his willingness to work with Democrats to pass the bill, including from Republicans in Congress who hope to depose him as Speaker.

Marjorie Taylor Greene: Speaker has ‘betrayed America’

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a conservative hardliner who is leading the charge against Mr Johnson, said he had “betrayed America” by putting the Ukraine package to a vote.

“House Republicans and the American people would be stronger without his disloyalty and betrayal of his principles,” she said.

“Now it’s time for my colleagues to go home and hear from their constituents. We need a new Speaker of the House!”

The Ukraine aid supplemental was first proposed by Mr Biden in October, after the existing budgetary authorisation from Congress began to dwindle.

Aides suggested that a “one-and-done” package to fund the war effort beyond November’s election was needed to overcome Republican resistance in the House.

By December, the Pentagon warned it had almost exhausted the budget, and aid dried up entirely in January.

One final package of $300m was sent by Washington in March, after the Pentagon identified savings it had made by buying previous shipments of weapons in bulk.

Other European allies have already begun to prepare for an end to US aid, which could be exhausted after November’s election if Donald Trump secures a second term in the White House.

Mr Trump has suggested he would not renew the budget for foreign aid for Ukraine, and would apply diplomatic pressure to Mr Zelensky to end the war through a negotiated settlement with Russia.

Mr Zelensky has signalled his intention to continue the war until Ukraine has won back the territory it lost after Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February 2022.

Mr Trump did not respond to the result of the vote on Saturday evening, but posted on his Truth Social platform about the criminal proceedings against him in several court cases.

These 112 House Republicans voted against Ukraine aid

• The House passed a more than $60 billion bill that provides more military aid to Ukraine.

• It's part of a larger foreign aid package that's likely to pass the Senate and be signed into law.

• 112 Republicans voted it against — the most ever, and a majority of the GOP conference.

The House of Representatives on Saturday passed a more than $60 billion bill to provide military and economic aid to Ukraine.

A solid majority of Republicans voted against the bill, which passed by a 311-112 margin. 101 Republicans voted for it, and one Republican, Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, voted "present."

The Ukraine aid bill came to the floor after months of delay and despite staunch opposition from the hard right, including a threat from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to call a vote to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson if he allowed such a vote.

Under Johnson's unconventional plan, the Ukraine bill will be sent to the Senate as part of a package that includes aid for Israel and Taiwan and a third bill that forces a sale of TikTok and allows the United States to confiscate Russian assets. Each component received its own vote in the House on Saturday.

The bill is widely expected to pass the Senate in the coming days, as it generally mirrors a $95.3 billion national security bill passed by the upper chamber in February. President Joe Biden has pledged to sign it into law.

Saturday's vote marked the first time the House had approved billions of dollars in Ukraine aid since December 2022, when Democrats still controlled the chamber.

In the two years since Russia's invasion, opposition to aiding Ukraine has grown from a fringe position to a majority view among House GOP lawmakers. Many argue the money should be spent domestically or that policy changes at the US-Mexico border should take precedence.

The new infusion of aid comes at a make-or-break moment for Ukraine, which has faced ammo shortages and insufficient air defenses.

As a result of his move, Johnson could face a vote on his ouster in the coming weeks. The GOP speaker, however, has grown more willing to confront the threat from the right, and Democrats have suggested that they're willing to protect him from an ouster effort if he allowed a vote on Ukraine aid.

"If I operated out of fear of a motion to vacate, I would never be able to do my job," Johnson told reporters this week. "History judges us for what we do. This is a critical time right now."

Here are the 112 House Republicans who voted against the bill: