President Joe Biden on Thursday called for $33 billion in new aid from Congress to support Ukraine, including for military aid, economic and food security and humanitarian needs.

He will also seek new authorities from Congress to strengthen American sanctions against the Russian government and those who profit from it.

“We need this bill to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom,” Biden said in a speech announcing the request on Thursday, adding: "It's gonna keep weapons and ammunition flowing without interruption to the brave Ukrainian fighters and continue delivering economic humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people."

About $20 billion of the $33 billion request — which officials said is estimated to last for five months — is set aside for military funding, including another $5 billion the president can authorize in new weapons and aid sent directly from the U.S. to Ukraine. 

And the package would add $6 billion to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a DOD partnership that existed before the war and comparatively received $300 million in the last supplemental aid legislation.

“We're not attacking Russia. We're helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression,” Biden said.

The proposal would more than double the initial $13.6 billion package of defense and economic aid for Ukraine and Western allies that Congress enacted last month. It seemed to signal a long-term U.S. commitment to staving off Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to expand his nation’s control of its neighbor, and perhaps beyond.

“This so-called supplemental funding addresses the needs of the Ukrainian military during the critical weeks and months ahead. And it begins a transition to longer-term security systems,” the president said.

The Biden administration also wants $14.1 billion for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which would include $7.5 in direct economic aid to Ukraine, $1.6 billion for food security and humanitarian needs and $4.5 billion in additional security assistance. 

Plus, officials want $620 million in domestic funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to increase food production and sales to make up for global shortfalls due to the war, such as wheat and soybeans.

“This funding is going to help ease rising food prices at home as well, and abroad,” Biden said.

Another $1.2 billion could be set aside for the Department of Health and Human Services for refugees, including the Uniting for Ukraine program that launched this week.

The request comes with the fighting, now in its ninth week, sharpening in eastern and southern parts of the country and international tensions growing as Russia cuts off gas supplies to two NATO allies, Poland and Bulgaria.

There is wide, bipartisan support in Congress for giving Ukraine all the assistance it needs to fight the Russians, and its eventual approval seems certain. But Biden and congressional Democrats also want lawmakers to approve billions more to battle the pandemic, and that along with a Republican push to entangle the measure with an extension of some Trump-era immigration restrictions leaves the proposal’s pathway to enactment unclear.

When asked Thursday after Biden's announcement if he is supportive of the $33 billion aid package for Ukraine, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell replied, "very likely, yes."

The president on Thursday also took time to call for that COVID funding, especially to buy more vaccines and therapeutics.

"Look, let's get both of these critical tasks done," he said of the pandemic and Ukrainian aid requests.

Biden was also asking Congress on Thursday for new powers to seize and repurpose the assets of Russian oligarchs.

Biden wants lawmakers to make it a criminal offense for a person to “knowingly or intentionally possess proceeds directly obtained from corrupt dealings with the Russian government,” double the statute of limitations for foreign money laundering offenses to 10 years, and expand the definition of “racketeering” under U.S. law to include efforts to evade sanctions.

He called on Congress to allow the federal government to use the proceeds from selling the seized assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs to help the people of Ukraine.

“Let me be clear: We will not let Russia intimidate or blackmail their way out of these sanctions. We will not allow them to use their oil and gas to avoid consequences of further aggression,” Biden said.