'A bad day for Vladimir Putin' - US approves $61 billion aid package to Ukraine

The US House of Representatives has approved a $61bn (€57.2) aid package for Ukraine after six months of political wrangling.

The decision was welcomed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "I am grateful to the United States House of Representatives, both parties, and personally to Speaker Mike Johnson for the decision that keeps history on the right track,” he said in a post on social media platform X. "Democracy and freedom will always have global significance and will never fail as long as America helps to protect it."

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the outcome of the vote meant that today was “a bad day for Vladimir Putin”. 

Ukraine is dependent on Western weaponry in its fight against the invasion from neighbouring Russia and desperately needs the aid to bolster its dwindling supplies of ammunition.

The vote on the aid package had been delayed by Republicans, some of whom objected to spending money on other countries as opposed to the US-Mexico border.