washington: The US House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday approved a resolution demanding that President Joe Biden and the Defence Department inform Congress of troop deployments in Ukraine and future military aid plans.

Republican congressman Matt Gaetz's proposal was approved by the committee by a party-line vote of 22–20. Gaetz referred to the vote as a "big win for accountability" and charged that Democrats were wary of "truth and transparency on aid to Ukraine."

He stipulated in his privileged resolution that the Pentagon and White House had 14 days to send the House "copies of all documents indicating any plans for current or future military assistance to Ukraine and documents indicating whether any US Armed Forces, including special operations forces, are currently deployed in Ukraine." 

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Members of Biden's party accused Gaetz of "amplifying Russian propaganda" during the resolution's debate earlier this week and of undermining the bipartisan consensus in Congress that support for Ukraine must be "unwavering and indefinite."

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Democratic congresswoman from North Carolina Kathy Manning referred to the resolution as "divisive and ill-advised" as well as "a partisan political ploy" that jeopardises the national security of the US, its allies in Europe, and "the courageous Ukrainian people."

There may be a time for oversight, but "now is not that time," according to Gaetz's Virginia colleague Gerry Connolly, who also accused her of trying to pressure Kiev into making peace.

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While introducing the resolution earlier this month, Gaetz accused Biden of "misleading the world on the state of the war in Ukraine" and demanded "total transparency" when it came to the possibility of starting "war with a nuclear adversary."

The resolution will now be discussed on the House floor, where the GOP holds a narrow majority. A sizable portion of the party, however, concurs with the Democrats and the White House that Kiev deserves unqualified support.