By Patricia Zengerle, Richard Cowan and Trevor Hunnicutt, Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the press after he met with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) director at IMF headquarters in Washington, DC, on 11 December, 2023. Photo: AFP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US lawmakers on Capitol Hill to make a last-ditch plea to keep military support flowing as he battles Russia, but faced a sceptical reception from some Republicans.
Republicans have been reluctant to sign off on a funding request from Democratic President Joe Biden under which Ukraine would receive US$61.4 billion.
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, said after meeting with Zelensky on on Tuesday [local time] that Biden's administration must provide more detail about how the money would be used.
"What the Biden administration seems to be asking for is billions of additional dollars with no appropriate oversight, no clear strategy to win and with none of the answers that I think the American people are owed," he said after meeting with Zelensky.
Other Republicans questioned whether additional aid would help Ukraine defeat Russia after a summer offensive that has failed to yield clear gains.
"I know everyone wants Ukraine to win, I just don't see it in the cards," Republican Senator Ron Johnson said.
Heading into winter, with tens of thousands of Ukrainians dead, a yawning budget deficit and Russian advances in the east, Zelensky is asking Washington to provide badly needed support.
Wearing a black shirt and olive drab trousers, Zelensky was met with sustained applause as he entered a closed-door meeting with US senators, and the chamber's Democratic and Republican leaders pledged their support.
Some Republicans, particularly those with the closest ties to former President Donald Trump, oppose more Ukraine aid and are asking about the war aims and how US money is being spent. They say any further money must be paired with changes to immigration policy - an exceptionally divisive issue in US politics.
"The one person happiest right now about the gridlock in Congress is Vladimir Putin. He is delighting in the fact that Donald Trump's border policies are sabotaging military aid to Ukraine," Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer said.
Speaker Johnson said he would not act until the Senate passed legislation. "I implore them to their job because the time is urgent and we do want to do the right thing," he told reporters.
Zelensky was due to next head to the White House, where he and President Joe Biden will hold a news conference at 4.15pm local time.
The White House told Congress on 4 December the government will no longer have funding to provide more weapons for Ukraine after the end of the year. Congress has approved more than US$110b for Ukraine since Russia's February 2022 invasion but no new funds since Republicans took over the House from Democrats in January.
Newly declassified US intelligence shows that "Russia seems to believe that a military deadlock through the winter will drain Western support for Ukraine" and ultimately give Russia the advantage, said Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council.
Ukraine is having success stopping Russian forces but Putin is continuing to order his troops forward despite heavy losses of troops and equipment since October, she added.
The war has cost Russia 315,000 dead and injured troops, nearly 90 percent of the personnel it had before the conflict began, according to a source familiar with a declassified US intelligence report.
There are just three days before Congress recesses for the year on Friday, and Republicans in the House have until now refused to pass a spending package bill that contains US$61.4b in Ukraine aid without fiercely disputed changes to US immigration.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who is leading the talks, said he thought lawmakers could reach an immigration deal and pass the spending package before the end of the year.
But Republicans said that was not likely.
"I'm becoming increasingly pessimistic," Senator Susan Collins told reporters.
Biden has cast the situation in stark terms, saying "history is going to judge harshly those who turn their back on freedom's cause."
Ultimately, US troops could be forced to fight Russia, Biden and others warn, if an unchecked Putin invades a European ally covered by NATO's mutual defense commitments.
Bolstered by billions of dollars in US arms, humanitarian aid and intelligence, Ukraine was able to fend off Russia's initial attempt to sweep the country. But Kyiv failed to break through Russian defensive lines in a major counteroffensive push this year and Russia is now on the offensive in the east.
Both the war and immigration issues are expected to be lightning-rod issues ahead of the 2024 US presidential and congressional elections. Trump and Biden are both seeking the presidency.
About 41 percent of US adults polled by Reuters/Ipsos last month backed sending weapons to Ukraine, compared to 32 percent who were opposed and the rest unsure.
- Reuters