Ukraine welcomes long-delayed aid package from U.S.

KIEV, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday thanked U.S. President Joe Biden and the U.S. Congress for approving a long-delayed support package for Ukraine worth about 61 billion U.S. dollars.

"We completed this half-year path. Regardless of what anyone says, we are gaining the support we need to continue protecting lives from Russian attacks," Zelensky wrote in a post on social media platform X.

Over the past few days, Ukraine has been working with the United States on all levels to include the exact types of weapons that Ukraine requires in the first disbursement of the military aid from the support package, which are worth 1 billion dollars, Zelensky said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal described the aid as "an important signal of support" for Kiev and voiced the hope that the supplies of weapons to Ukraine could be resumed this week.

Earlier in the day, Biden signed legislation envisaging the allocation of 61 billion dollars in aid for Ukraine, which was approved by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.

Last week, Shmyhal said the package includes 49.9 billion dollars for military assistance.