President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden, senators, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson this week, as congressional Republicans drag their feet on approving more military aid to Ukraine.
Zelensky is currently in Buenos Aires, attending the inauguration of the Argentinian president, Javier Milei, and will travel to Washington on Tuesday.
The Senate’s Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also invited the Ukrainian president to meet with the entire upper chamber, a week after Zelensky unexpectedly canceled a video call at the last minute with senators as discord erupted on Capitol Hill.
The House Speaker's office also announced that Johnson is scheduled to meet with Zelensky during his visit.
Lacking any agreement on further Kyiv funding, the White House and Democrats have warned that pre-approved military aid will run out soon. The US State Department released a $175-million tranche of pre-approved military aid last week.
The Ukrainian president’s office said the meeting will focus on key issues such as “joint projects on the production of weapons and air defense systems, as well as the coordination of efforts between our countries in the coming year,” AFP reported.
Zelensky will face fierce scrutiny from a small pocket of vocal senators, spearheaded by Ohio Republican JD Vance, who are demanding deep changes to US immigration policy as a trade-off for funding Kyiv’s defense of the Russian invasion.
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“You need to articulate what the ambition is. What is $61 billion going to accomplish that $100 billion hasn't?” Vance said on CNN on Sunday, referring to the Ukrainian-portion of the most recent aid package proposal that failed to garner the requisite 60 votes in the Senate, and the approximate total sent already.
“What’s in America’s best interest is to accept Ukraine is going to have to cede some territory to the Russians and we need to bring the war to a close,” he said.
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Comments (3)
Like in Ukraine, individual American politicians say all kinds of things that aren’t the policies of their party or nation. Vance, keep in mind, is a first term senator.
What has been going on at the party level in Washington is good old fashioned political horse trading.
The porous border with Mexico has been a sore point with Republicans for a very long time. They are in essence saying ‘We are in favour of more aid to Ukraine, and we will support that, but in return we want something done to secure the border’
Feverish negotiations are ongoing right now. A deal will be struck before Christmas.
But Vance is not 100% wrong either. Some accommodations with the Russians will need to be made with Crimea and the Donbas to end this war.
Senator Vance is a young fool with no memory of the Cold War. Older Republicans will defend Ukraine.
@Dave Duringer, republicans are deep in the pocket of vladolf putler through donolf trumpler
and the next front by vladolf putler is already created between venezuela and guyana; their was recently close contact between the venezuela and rasshist dicktatorship
The United States' best interest is served by a stronger, more secure and more prosperous EU and a better contained and restricted Russian Empire, not the reverse.
@Michael, The way the MAGA GOP mob are nutting off, you'd think it was Yank boots on the ground in Ukraine and that the billions of dollars in military aid to Kyiv was being sent over in bags of unmarked bills for the funding of new villas and yachts all round- rather than hardware and ammunition (often at the end of it's storage life and needing to be either fired, or decommissioned at further cost).
These donated items do need to be replaced, but that gives jobs to American workers, sales, profits and taxes to US companies, State and Federal government. Some items will go to Ukraine, but a substantial chunk of the dosh stays in the US, UK, etc etc.
The brave troops of UDF have been doing an amazing job of demilitarizing the aggressor that invaded their country, to the extent that Russia will struggle to launch a conventional force against any of their neighbours for 10-15 years to come. Poland and Germany have seen the wisdom of supporting Kyiv.
So I agree with you, Slava Ukraine, Glory to the heros
@Kiwi Steve, yep, it looks exactly that way to this Aussie with a Ukrainian-Australian wife and half-Ukrainian children, too.