U.S. Congress Likely to Pass Ukraine Aid Tuesday

A U.S. aid package to Ukraine that also imposes sanctions on Russia for its Crimea takeover is expected to clear Congress Tuesday and head to President Barack Obama, ending a weeks-long impasse.

But there is already concern that the delayed legislation might be too little too late to have a substantial impact on resolving the most serious East-West confrontation since the end of the Cold War.

The bill, which provides for $1 billion in loan guarantees as well as $150 million for improved governance and enhanced security cooperation, will mark the first actionable measures greenlighted by U.S. lawmakers to assist the new government of Ukraine.

The deal, which would also penalize individuals linked to Russia's annexation of Crimea and the deadly crackdown on protesters in Kiev opposed to Ukraine's pro-Kremlin government, comes as Washington also pursues a diplomatic track to lower the temperature of Europe's most serious East-West geopolitical showdown since the Cold War.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Monday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Paris, and Russian troops were said to be undertaking a partial withdrawal from positions along its border with Ukraine.

Republican Senator Bob Corker suggested Washington was sending "confusing" signals about its Moscow policy.

"On one hand... we're pushing back on Russia's actions, and then we're exchanging documents, and you kind of wonder what message is being sent to Russia," Corker told reporters.

The congressional move follows weeks of wrangling by lawmakers over the nature of the aid.

The House of Representatives votes Tuesday on a bill already passed by the Senate, and lawmakers and aides expect easy passage.

But Corker noted that the loan guarantees were already pledged by Obama, and that the president through executive action has implemented most of the congressionally-urged sanctions -- although undoing them would require lawmakers' approval.

And he said that while more could be done, including expanding liquid national gas exports to Europe to cut into Russia's energy influence, "right now I don't know of additional steps that will be taken" by Congress.

There had been little doubt as to whether Congress was committed to helping Kiev and sanctioning Russia.

But a hurdle emerged when the White House and Senate Democratic leaders hoped to include a provision that changes the way the International Monetary Fund provides emergency moneys to crisis-hit nations such as Ukraine.

Several Republicans including House Speaker John Boehner objected to the move, and Democratic leadership relented by stripping out the IMF language.

Lawmakers have stressed the importance that speaking with a united voice would have in sending a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The world is watching, and the world's superpower cannot be seen as incapable of rising to Russia's challenge," Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said last week.