Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer walks to the Senate Chambers in the US Capitol on June 01, 2023
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged the GOP-led House to pass the foreign aid bill that includes military assistance for Ukraine and Israel. AFP

KEY POINTS

  • Putin is waiting 'to see if the U.S. will act,' Schumer said
  • The proposed legislation includes $60 billion in military aid for Ukraine
  • House Speaker Johnson indicated that the bill may be 'dead on arrival' when it reaches the House

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Sunday demanded that House Republicans pass a bipartisan foreign aid bill after the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

"The death of Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison rings an urgent alarm bell that demands the House pass the Senate-passed bipartisan national security bill that holds direly needed help for Ukraine," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Sunday.

Schumer added that the proposed legislation is "sitting" on House Speaker Mike Johnson's desk "while [Russian President Vladimir] Putin waits to see if the U.S. will act."

The Senate voted 70-29 last week to push forward the controversial foreign aid bill that Johnson has said could possibly be "dead on arrival" once it reaches the House.

The $95.3 billion bill has $60 billion dedicated for military assistance to Ukraine, while $14.1 billion is designated for Israel.

Schumer's call for the bill's passage, which surprisingly received 22 Republican votes in the Senate, comes after President Joe Biden pinned the blame for Navalny's death in prison on Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny's death, he said late last week, after news of the staunch Kremlin critic's passing emerged.

A day after Navalny's death shocked the world, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine has withdrawn its troops from the besieged eastern city of Avdiivka, known as an industrial stronghold that Russian forces have been trying to capture since October.

Zelensky said the decision was made, so Ukrainian troops can be saved. "The ability to save our people is the most important task for us ... in order to avoid being surrounded, it was decided to withdraw to other lines. This does not mean that people retreated some kilometers and Russia captured something; it did not capture anything," he said.

Meanwhile, Johnson has reiterated said that the Republican-led House will most likely block the foreign aid bill, saying House GOP members have been "crystal clear" over its stance that national security "begins at our own border."

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