Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy and top aides to US President Joe Biden were yesterday to make their case to US senators about why a fresh infusion of military assistance is needed to help Ukraine repel Russian invaders.
The White House says the US would spend all it has available for Ukraine by the end of the year, a dire prediction that comes as Kyiv has struggled to make major advances in its counteroffensive against Russia.
Biden’s administration in October asked the US Congress for nearly US$106 billion to fund ambitious plans for Ukraine, Israel and US border security, but Republicans who control the US House of Representatives with a slim majority rejected the package.
Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / handout via Reuters
US Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, in a letter to US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and other congressional leaders, said that cutting off funding and a flow of weapons would “kneecap Ukraine on the battlefield” and increase the likelihood of Russian victories.
“I want to be clear: Without congressional action, by the end of the year, we will run out of resources to procure more weapons and equipment for Ukraine and to provide equipment from U.S. military stocks,” Young wrote in the letter released by the White House. “There is no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment. We are out of money — and nearly out of time.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a close Biden ally, announced on Monday night that the administration has invited Zelenskiy to address senators via secure video as part of a classified briefing “so we can hear directly from him precisely what’s at stake in this vote.”
In addition, a variety of top Biden officials, including US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, were expected to brief the senators.
Schumer also started the process of advancing a Ukraine-Israel emergency aid bill on the Senate floor.
“America’s national security is on the line around the world” with the fate of Ukraine aid hanging in the balance, Schumer said in a Senate speech. “Autocrats, dictators waging war against democracy, against our values, against our way of life. That’s why passing this supplemental is so important. It could determine the trajectory of democracy for years to come.”
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