Zelensky requests US assistance ahead of Biden meeting
As he arrived in Washington on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an emotional plea for continuing US military assistance. Addressing military officials, he stated that Ukraine is fighting for global democracy as well as its own freedom. His remarks come as a billion-dollar assistance plan is stalled in Congress due to a bitter political spat.
Mr Zelensky, slamming Republicans who are obstructing the help, branded the delay a “dream come true” for Vladimir Putin. If anybody is inspired by unresolved difficulties on Capitol Hill, it’s Putin and his sick circle,” Ukraine’s president stated. Mr. Zelensky is scheduled to make similar remarks during a meeting with President Joe Biden on Tuesday at the White House. He will also speak with House Speaker Mike Johnson, a vocal opponent of more military funding.
Mr Zelensky’s visit is his third to the United States since Russia’s invasion in 2022, and the White House said in a statement on Sunday that it is meant to “underscore the United States’ unwavering commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russia’s brutal invasion.” The US military aid plan, totaling $60 billion (£47.9 billion; €55 billion), is now stuck in Congress, with Republicans arguing that more money should be spent on internal security along the US-Mexico border. Republicans opposed a deal that contained funds but no border restrictions in the Senate last week.
In addition to increased border enforcement funding, Republicans want to change the way illegal migrants seeking political asylum in the United States are handled. “Quite frankly, we’re not going to go help other countries without looking at what’s going on in the United States,” Oklahoma Republican Senator James Lankford told an NBC reporter on Monday. Mr. Lankford stated that Americans do not want US border security to be overlooked while Congress concentrates on Ukraine’s issues.
He went on to say that he doubted Mr Zelensky’s visit would sway any MPs’ opinions. Although the Biden administration has shown a readiness to accept certain adjustments to refugee policy, such concessions risk infuriating liberal lawmakers and further fracturing a party already divided by the president’s backing for Israel in the Gaza War. “We are concerned about reports of harmful changes to our asylum system that could deprive vulnerable people, including children, of lifesaving humanitarian protection while failing to deliver any meaningful improvement to the situation at the border,” a group of 11 Democratic senators wrote in a statement released on November 30.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a Biden supporter, has claimed that the White House is getting “more engaged” in the current discussions, with the goal of reaching a full budget package that includes money for Ukraine before Congress goes on holiday break on Friday. much if the Senate does reach an agreement, the plan would still need to be approved by the House of Representatives, where resistance to greater Ukraine help is much stronger. Mr. Biden has urged Congress to approve the funding. In an emotional televised address last Wednesday, Putin claimed the package couldn’t wait and warned that triumph over Ukraine would not be the end of Russia.
Though Ukraine repelled Russia’s first onslaught, its much-touted counter-offensive this year has slowed, and several of the Western nations that have stepped up to help it militarily have shown symptoms of exhaustion. Nonetheless, Mr Zelensky said on Monday that if US military help continued, his soldiers might still overpower Russian forces. “In Europe, American Bradleys, HIMARS, 155-caliber shells and ATACMS missiles, Patriots, and F-16s can get the job done exactly how global freedom requires,” he stated. “The entire world is watching us, waiting to see what fate other free nations will face – to live freely or to be subjugated.” Ukrainians have not and will not give up.”
“Everyone has a right to football.”