NEW YORK: Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has warned that ending of the American aid to Ukraine amounts to a gift to Putin.
She made the remarks at a gathering on Thursday in New York to map out Ukraine’s future after two years of war with Russia.
Clinton added this is a decisive time not only for Ukraine, but for the West or NATO.
She said the response of the US will immeasurably impact the state of the 21st century global order.
Washington is Kyiv’s main military supporter, with over $110 billion already released by Congress, but the country has failed for months to vote new funds for Ukraine.
Amid internal issues between Republican lawmakers, the Congress again postponed a vote on assistance to Kyiv and Washington’s leading Middle East ally Israel.
The US Senate on Thursday in a surprise, voted to move forward with the assistance package, as many Republicans joined Democrats in agreeing to open debate.
Even if the bill passed in the Senate, it remained unclear whether there is sufficient backing in the Republican-controlled House to send it to Biden’s desk.
Clinton, said it is shameful that Ukrainian aid continues to be held up in Congress because of politics.
She went on to say that aggression by Russia and the suffering of Ukrainians cannot be go unnoticed and without response.
She strongly believed that it would be a gift to Vladimir Putin and a blow to America’s cause of freedom and democracy.
