WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The foreign ministers of Britain and Poland appealed on Thursday to the U.S. Congress and personally to the speaker of the House of Representatives to take an “epoch-making” decision and approve $60 billion in military and other aid for Ukraine.
Britain's David Cameron and Poland's Radek Sikorski stressed that approving aid for Ukraine as it fights a war against Russia's aggression is a matter of U.S. credibility among its allies in NATO and the world. Poland and Britain have been Kyiv's staunch supporters throughout the two years of the war.
“This is our joint appeal to the U.S. House of Representatives and personally to Speaker Mike Johnson to submit the Ukraine aid package to a vote,” Sikorski told a news conference after talks with Cameron, stressing they are appealing for an approval of the package.
He called it a “epoch-making decision” that would affect U.S. credibility around the globe.
Cameron said aiding Ukraine was the “challenge of our generation” and that the main question was, “Do we have the political will to match it,” referring to the challenge of Russia's aggression on Ukraine.
“We must not let (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin think he can out-wait us or last us out, and that’s why this vote in Congress is so crucial," Cameron said. He added he was making the appeal as "someone who has a deep and abiding love of the United States — of their democracy, of their belief in freedom — but (also) as someone who really believes in the importance of our alliance.”
The urgently needed package has been held up by infighting in Congress. It was recently approved by the Senate but faces a deep uncertainty in the House of Representatives. Hard-line Republicans in the House, who are aligned with former President Donald Trump — the party's front-runner for presidential nomination, and a critic of support for Ukraine — oppose the legislation.
The legislation would allow for the purchase of U.S.-made defense equipment, including munitions and air defense systems. Some $8 billion would go to aid the government in Kyiv and to other assistance.
Johnson has cast new doubt on the package and made clear that it could be weeks or months before Congress sends the legislation for President Joe Biden’s approval — if at all.
Cameron stressed that the U.S. decision was “not just a European issue.”
“There’ll be other people watching what the U.S. will do. They will be watching in China, they will be watching in Iran and every country around the world will be watching to say: are we, the Western countries, are we reliable allies?” Cameron said.
He was to meet with Poland's President Andrzej Duda later on Thursday.