The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging President Barack Obama to send lethal weapons to Ukraine to protect its sovereignty in its fight against Russian-backed rebels, Associated Press reports.
The resolution was approved Monday by a vote of 348 to 48.
Petro Poroshenko, the president of Ukraine, visited Congress in September to ask the U.S. for military support. So far, the U.S. has only sent humanitarian aid to the region and imposed sanctions on Russia. “One cannot win a war with blankets,” Poroshenko pleaded during his speech.
There is bipartisan support in Congress to provide the arms to Ukraine forces battling the rebels. State Department officials say Obama administration officials are discussing lethal assistance but are waiting to see whether the agreements that led to February’s cease-fire are implemented.
Last year, Congress unanimously passed a bill that authorized the president to send weapons to Ukraine — a power he has so far declined to use. In February, a group of senators held a press conference calling for the U.S. to send $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine as soon as possible, and pledge another $1 billion for 2016 and 2017.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin denies arming rebels in the war in eastern Ukraine, which began last April after Moscow annexed the mostly Russian-speaking Crimean Peninsula.
www.belsat.eu/en/, via AP
