Polish PM warns Speaker Johnson: 'thousands of lives' depend on vote for Ukraine aid
Kyiv • UNN
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned that the fate of millions and thousands of lives depends on whether U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson allows a vote on a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday that "the fate of millions of people" and "thousands of lives" depend on whether the Republican will allow a vote on $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, writes UNN citing Reuters.
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"This is not some political skirmish that (only) matters on the American political scene. Mr. Johnson's failure to make a positive decision will cost thousands of lives. He takes personal responsibility for that," Tusk told reporters.
Tusk made the comment after he and Polish President Andrzej Duda met at the White House with U.S. President Joe Biden, who told them that U.S. support for Poland was ironclad amid concerns in Europe about russia.
Biden and Polish leaders have urged Johnson to hold a vote on the aid package that passed the Senate, but the Republican leader in the House is holding it up. Former President Donald Trump, who is the favorite in the Republican Party's 2024 presidential race, opposes aid to Ukraine, the publication notes.
"He must realize ... that the fate of millions of people depends on his individual decisions, and that thousands of lives in Ukraine today and tomorrow depend on his decisions," Tusk said of Johnson.
Johnson's office declined to comment. Earlier, after Johnson's meeting with Duda, his office issued a statement that did not address the issue of Ukraine's financing.
"In an increasingly dangerous world with growing threats, America must remain united with our friends against those who threaten our security," Johnson said.
The US president has urged Congress to approve legislation that would send Ukraine $60 billion in security aid. The Senate passed the bill last month in a bipartisan vote, but hard-line Republicans in the House of Representatives stalled it.
"We must act before it is literally too late, because as Poland remembers, russia will not stop in Ukraine. putin will continue to go forward, putting Europe, the United States and the entire free world at risk," Biden said.
Prior to the meeting, Tusk said he would discuss with Biden the need to strengthen NATO's eastern flank of deterrence capabilities against Russia.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters before the talks that the United States would offer to sell Poland 96 Apache attack helicopters and approve a $2 billion foreign direct aid loan to Warsaw.
Speaking ahead of the talks, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski urged Johnson to allow a vote on Ukraine funding, but softened an earlier call in which he said the Republican speaker would be blamed if the bill failed and Russian troops advanced.
"If the U.S. package doesn't come through ... Ukraine could find itself in a predicament, and that could ultimately mean the need for more U.S. troops in Europe," he told reporters at a Monitor breakfast.
Sikorski also addressed Johnson's Baptist faith, saying that Russia "persecutes religious minorities, including Baptists" in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
