With the swipe of a pen, U.S. President Joe Biden, aided by bipartisan U.S. lawmakers, may have altered the course of Ukraine’s now two-year-old defense against Russian invasion.

Following months of political deadlock in the U.S. House of Representatives, it took all of a day for the U.S. Senate to approve a multi-billion dollar plan to send military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and allies in the Indo-Pacific, and for Biden to quickly sign it into law Wednesday. It took just a few hours longer for the Department of Defense to announce it was ready to send $1 billion in arms and equipment to eastern Europe.

“I’m grateful to all those in Congress — Democrats, Republicans, independents — who voted for this bill. It’s path to my desk was a difficult path. It should have been easier, and it should have gotten there sooner. But in the end, we did what America always does: We rose to the moment, we came together, and we got it done,” Biden said after signing the aid package into law.

“Now we need to move fast, and we are,” he said.

According to the Department of Defense, they are already prepared to send “significant new security assistance” to Ukraine, including “air defense interceptors, artillery rounds, armored vehicles, and anti-tank weapons.”

“This package will surge munitions, weapons, and equipment forward to support Ukraine’s ability to defend its frontlines, protect its cities, and counter Russia’s continued attacks. With the bipartisan support of Congress, Ukraine can count on strong and resolute U.S. leadership to provide consistent security assistance support – together with some 50 Allies and partners – to ensure its brave defenders receive the critical capabilities needed to fight Russian aggression,” the DoD said in a statement.

This February marked the second anniversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unlawful “special military operation” against its Democratic neighbor, and for months Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of his country’s flagging ability to defend itself in the face of continued Russian aggression without further assistance from the U.S. and other NATO nations.

Passage of the $61 billion aid package through the divided Republican controlled House was met with cheers in the frontline trenches of the ongoing ground war, according to Biden.

“It’s not like they don’t understand what we’ve done. Not like they don’t understand how critical this is for them. I’m making sure the shipments start right away. In the next few hours — literally, the few hours — we’re going to begin sending in equipment to Ukraine for air defense; munitions for artillery, for rocket systems; and armored vehicles,” Biden said.

Zelensky said the aid package is “vital” to Ukraine’s ability to defend itself, and while thankful, made clear that support was a long time in coming.

“We will make every effort to compensate for the half-year spent in debates and doubts. We must turn everything the occupier has accomplished during this time, as well as everything Putin intends to do, against him. All of his frontline actions, strikes on our energy system and infrastructure, and terror against our cities and villages must unite us all—everyone in the world who truly values life—around the need to increase pressure on Russia,” he said.

Today’s American military aid package for Ukraine is vital.

I thank all Americans who work in defense enterprises and every state that manufactures weapons that are now really protecting democracy and our way of life. All of the current cooperation between Ukraine and the… pic.twitter.com/PSWrVh0xU4

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 24, 2024

Russia first attacked its fellow former Soviet state since 2014, when Putin illegally annexed Crimea. The conflict, which continued in a pair of separatist regions during the following eight years, exploded into full scale war in February of 2022, when the Russian military further invaded the country on three fronts.

Moscow apparently had planned just days of military actions, but Russian forces have since been stalled in their advances by Ukrainian troops and civilian volunteers armed and trained by a global coalition of nations.

According to the United Nations, the war has displaced 3.7 million people within Ukraine and caused 6.5 million Ukrainians to flee the country. More than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and over 14 million are in need of humanitarian assistance.