The White House intends to request more than $2 billion in military aid to Israel and Ukraine

The US administration is going to request from Congress military assistance to Israel and Ukraine in the amount of more than $2 billion, said US Presidential National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. writes Reuters.

The amount could exceed $2 billion, Sullivan said in response to a question from reporters. The adviser noted that US President Joe Biden is planning contacts with congressmen on this topic next week.

Now the allocation of aid to other countries is complicated by the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. On October 3, the lower house removed Republican Kevin McCarthy from the post of speaker, which became the first case in the history of the American parliament. Patrick McHenry was appointed Speaker Pro Tempore. It was his fellow party member, representative of the right wing of the Republican Party, Matt Gaetz, who proposed removing McCarthy from office.

In addition, on September 30, Congress, at McCarthy’s initiative, managed to agree on a short-term budget that will allow the US government to operate for the next 45 days until the next vote.

McCarthy’s initiative does not provide funding for Ukraine. Biden said it was unacceptable to cut off aid to Kyiv and called on McCarthy, before his resignation, to “keep his word to the Ukrainian people” and promote the approval of the next funding package through a separate special law.

On October 7, fighting broke out between the Palestinian group Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) after Palestinian militants attacked Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip. Since the conflict began, more than 3,500 people have been confirmed killed on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides.