By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate passed nearly $40 billion of aid to Ukraine Thursday. President Joe Biden will sign the bill into law at the White House as Washington works to maintain military assistance nearly three months following Russia’s invasion.

Voting continued and the final result was 79-11 in favor of the U.S. package of economic, military, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. This is the most comprehensive U.S. assistance package to Ukraine.

Chuck Schumer (Democratic Senate Majority Leader) stated, “This is an enormous package. It will meet the large need of the Ukrainian people in their fight for survival.” He called for support for the emergency supplemental funding bill ahead of the vote.

“By passing the emergency aid bill, the Senate is now able to tell the Ukrainian people that assistance is forthcoming. Reliable help. It is a significant help. Schumer stated that they could provide assistance that would ensure that Ukraine wins.

On May 10, the House of Representatives approved aid. It was rejected by Rand Paul (Republican Senator) and stalled in Senate. Biden’s Senate colleagues hold a narrow majority, while the House is controlled by Democrats. However, Senate rules dictate that unanimous consent must be obtained in order to quickly move to a final vote.

Lloyd Austin, Defense Secretary, and Antony Blinken, Secretary of State, had both urged legislators to act quickly. They wrote to congressional leaders to tell them that there was enough money for the military to send weapons to Kyiv up to Thursday, May 19, but not before.

Biden signing the bill will increase the amount of U.S. assistance for Ukraine to more than $50 billion, since the Russian invasion on February 24th.