US Senate votes to consider Ukraine aid bill

The US Senate voted to continue consideration of funding for Ukraine, Israel, and allies in the Indo-Pacific region over the weekend, The Hill reports.

This decision will allow for further negotiations on controversial issues, including, in particular, the Republican amendments on border security.

The Senate decided to work seven days a week to speed up the passage of the bill that provides funding for Ukraine, Israel and other US national security priorities to Congress.

Some Republican senators are outraged that the bill does not contain provisions to strengthen the country's southern border and resolve the migrant problem.

Prior to this vote, negotiations on the "migration amendments" continued throughout the day in the Senate.

The bill previously included a bipartisan agreement on border security, which provided for reform of national legislation on asylum and expanded the president's authority to expel migrants.

However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer removed the border security provisions from the bill after an overwhelming majority of Republicans voted against it.

This vote before the senators were to leave for the weekend made it possible to remove the procedural obstacle and continue working on changes to the bill without interruption.

Yet, border security remains one of the most contentious issues.

One of the senators who voted against the bill providing aid for Ukraine, Marco Rubio, called the situation on the southern border of the United States an "invasion" of millions of migrants.

So, he said, they cannot help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion while ignoring the "invasion of America."

Instead of leaving for the weekend, senators will continue negotiating amendments and finalizing their positions.

According to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, if the Republicans make up their minds earlier, he is ready to immediately put both the agreed amendments and the law as a whole to a vote.