US Senate Republicans Block Funding for Ukraine and Israel

On Wednesday, Republicans of the U.S. Senate blocked a procedural vote on a bill that included funding for Ukraine and Israel, citing a lack of policy changes in the measures to improve security on the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from the state of Vermont, joined all of the chamber's 49 Republicans in casting the "NO" vote, blocking the US$111 billion package from advancing in the chamber.

A threshold of 60 votes in favor was needed for the bill to pass. The final tally was 51-49, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, flipping his vote from "YES" to "NO" so that he would be able to reintroduce the bill in the future.

The bill includes US$61.4 billion in military and economic aid for Ukraine, US$14.3 billion in assistance for Israel, as well as spending on other international hotspots.

Although Republicans opposed moving forward in the process of approving the funds, Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., believes that the bill could be processed again in the near future.

“At all meetings, senators have assured us that their vote is not against Ukraine,” said Markarova, who had previously been trying to convince Republicans to vote in favor.

The Ukrainian diplomat maintains that the reason invoked by the Republicans for not approving the bill's advance has to do with internal matters in the United States.

“They have previously explained that they could not vote for a law that does not include the issue of the U.S. southern border and changes in immigration policy,” Markarova stressed.

Republicans condition their support for continued aid to Ukraine on President Joe Biden more strictly controlling the entry of illegal immigrants across the border. Democrats do not accept this Republican demand at the moment.