After a procedural vote on Monday, US Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Sunday (May 15) that the Senate will vote on Wednesday to approve approximately US$40 billion in proposed aid to help Ukraine withstand Russia's invasion.

        "We intend to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed on Monday, ideally by a big margin, setting us up to adopt the supplemental on Wednesday," McConnell told reporters on a conference call from Stockholm after visiting Kiev on Saturday. He was alluding to a procedural motion known as "cloture," which limits future discussion on a subject to 30 hours.

        On April 28, President Joe Biden proposed $33 billion in aid for Ukraine, including more than $20 billion in military help. The US House of Representatives increased the amount to almost $40 billion by include extra military and humanitarian aid. 

        McConnell spoke from Stockholm, Sweden's capital, where he expressed strong support for both Sweden and Finland joining NATO, the 30-member Western military alliance formed to oppose Soviet attack. "Both of them have extremely formidable military," McConnell added. "If they choose to join NATO, these will be significant additions, and I believe the United States should be first in line to approve the treaty for both of these nations to join."