WASHINGTON -- Congress is sending President Barack Obama a bill to provide $1 billion in loan guarantees to cash-poor Ukraine and take punitive measures against Russia for its annexation of part of the former Soviet republic.
Russia's incursion into Crimea caused a deep rift between Moscow and Washington. The bill, passed with bipartisan support, was a way for Congress to denounce Russia's move and express support for Kyiv.
The House voted overwhelmingly to pass it Tuesday. The bill is also aimed at discouraging any further actions that President Vladimir Putin might be contemplating in the region.
The bill provides $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine and supplements sanctions the Obama administration already has levied on Putin's inner circle and a Russian bank.
