After stalling for months, Ukraine aid heads to vote in House of Representatives

Mike Johnson has said that the 'world is watching' to see whether the US will stand by its allies abroad.

US President Joe Biden has said he "strongly supports" a new $61bn (£49bn) aid bill for Ukraine, arguing it will "send a message to the world".

The long-stalled measure is one of four that the House of Representatives will vote on this Saturday.

The legislation will also include funding for Israel as well as the Indo-Pacific.

Opposition from the right wing of the Republican party has stymied potential assistance for Ukraine for months.

Some of those lawmakers have sought to tie Ukraine assistance with funding for US-Mexico border enforcement.

Several Republican lawmakers, including Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene, who wants House Speaker Mike Johnson removed from his post, have already decried his plan.

With Republicans holding their smallest majority in the House in decades, Mr Johnson may have to appeal to Democrats to get the bills passed.

• Ukraine PM warns of Third World War if Russia wins

In a statement after Mr Johnson's announcement, Mr Biden said he would sign the bill into law immediately.

"Israel is facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine is facing continued bombardment from Russia that has intensified dramatically in the last month," the Democratic president added.

"The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow."

He said the funding would also provide humanitarian aid for Gaza.

Democrats and some centrist Republicans have been calling for months for Ukraine aid to be passed quickly, arguing it is vital for that country's defence against Russia and US national security.

Mr Johnson's announcement on Wednesday comes more than two months after a $95bn (£76.3bn) bill encompassing various aid packages passed the US Senate.

The new plan breaks the aid packages into separate bills, which Mr Johnson said include "a loan structure for aid, and enhanced strategy and accountability".

The Ukraine bill, totalling nearly $61bn in aid, includes weapons and other "lethal assistance" for Ukrainian forces.

It also requires cost-matching requirements from other US allies, as well as a repayment agreement from Ukraine's government.

The announcement comes on the same day as Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance was making "an important effort" to beef up Ukraine's air defences.

Seventeen people were killed and 60 people wounded in a Russian missile attack on the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine earlier in the day.

The bill focused on Israel would provide $26bn, partly for replenishing the country's Iron Dome and David's Sling defensive systems, while the Indo-Pacific bill is primarily meant to limit China and help Taiwan fend off its "military provocations", according to the House Appropriations Committee's leaders.

A fourth piece of legislation folds in the "Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians", or Repo Act, to allow seized Russian assets to be given to Ukraine, and a bill meant to crack down on TikTok.

Mr Johnson has then rolled in measures to strengthen security at the US-Mexico border into a separate bill.

That bill includes the "core components" legislation known as HR2, which was passed by the Republican-controlled House last year over significant Democratic opposition, he said.

HR2 stalled in the Democratic-majority Senate.

Members of the staunchly conservative Freedom Caucus have come out against Mr Johnson's foreign aid plan, in large part over border security.

"The Republican Speaker of the House is seeking a rule to pass almost $100bn in foreign aid - while unquestionably, dangerous criminals, terrorists [and] fentanyl pour across our border," Freedom Caucus member and Texas Republican Chip Roy wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"The border 'vote' in this package is a watered-down dangerous cover vote," Mr Roy added. "I will oppose."

Mr Johnson is under increasing pressure from the right-wing of the Republican party, which is unhappy about his support for foreign aid and his negotiations with Democrats.

Two conservative representatives, Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie and Georgia's Ms Greene, have called on him to step down or face a motion to vacate, which could lead to his removal.

"You are seriously out of step with Republicans by continuing to pass bills dependent on Democrats," Ms Greene wrote in a post on X directed at him on Wednesday. "Everyone sees through this."

Mr Johnson, however, has vowed to push ahead with the foreign aid, telling reporters earlier this week that "the world is watching us to see how we react".

"We have terrorists and tyrants and terrible leaders around the world like Putin and Xi and in Iran, and they're watching to see if America will stand up for its allies and our interests around the globe," he said. "And we will."

He has also shrugged off the threat of being removed from his position.

"I don't spend my time worrying about motions to vacate," he said on Monday evening. "We're having to govern here, and we're going to do our job."