Biden approves $40 billion in aid to Ukraine

US President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington. File photoMOSCOW, May 21. US President Joe Biden signed a bill to provide about $40 billion in aid to Ukraine, the White House said. The US Senate on Thursday approved a bill to provide Ukraine with an unprecedented scale of additional aid. The lower house of Congress approved the bill last week. Earlier, CNN, citing a White House representative, said that the bill was being «taken» to Biden for signature in Seoul, where the American president is on an Asian tour. The law provides for «additional emergency allocations to federal agencies to respond to the situation in Ukraine and to provide assistance for fiscal year 2022.» Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, as of March 25, the Armed Forces have completed the main tasks of the first stage of the special operation — they have significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.