President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine will journey to Washington on Tuesday for a last-ditch lobbying effort with President Biden and members of Congress aimed toward securing billions of {dollars} of U.S. support, officers mentioned on Sunday.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White Home press secretary, mentioned Mr. Zelensky would meet with Mr. Biden on the White Home to “underscore the USA’ unshakable dedication” to the embattled nation because it resists Russia’s invasion.
“As Russia ramps up its missile and drone strikes towards Ukraine, the leaders will focus on Ukraine’s pressing wants and the important significance of the USA’ continued help at this crucial second,” Ms. Jean-Pierre mentioned.
Final week, Republicans blocked a $110.5 billion emergency spending invoice that features funding for Ukraine’s battle effort, placing unsure whether or not the USA would proceed serving to arm the nation in its battle towards Russia.
They’ve argued that any measure to fund Ukraine’s battle effort should be coupled with adjustments to U.S. asylum legal guidelines and detention insurance policies, which weren’t included within the invoice.
Mr. Biden and his aides have warned that refusing to help Ukraine within the coming months might pave the best way for a victory by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Mr. Zelensky’s chief of workers additionally mentioned final week that Ukraine might lose the battle if the USA delayed the help.
Republicans have responded by saying that Mr. Biden and Mr. Zelensky haven’t supplied a transparent plan for successful the battle, which has stalled after dragging on for greater than a 12 months and a half.
Mr. Zelensky may have a possibility to face among the lawmakers instantly on Tuesday morning throughout a closed-door session with senators, in line with a senior Democratic aide. The assembly was organized by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the bulk chief, and Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican chief.
The Ukrainian chief was scheduled to deal with an analogous session of lawmakers remotely final week, however he canceled on the final minute. The assembly devolved right into a shouting match between Democratic and Republican senators concerning the G.O.P.’s border calls for.
Mr. Zelensky final visited Washington in September and held an analogous assembly on the Capitol with senators that was broadly attended. However he was by no means invited to deal with members of the Home, the place most Republicans have since voted towards persevering with to help the battle. Simply days after Mr. Zelensky’s go to, Congress determined towards including emergency battle help for Ukraine in a invoice to fund the federal government, which put that support in limbo for the primary time since Russia invaded in early 2022.
Throughout his September go to, Mr. Zelensky met with Consultant Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California after which the speaker; Consultant Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority chief; and a bunch of senior lawmakers from the nationwide safety and appropriations committees. Mr. McCarthy was ousted from the speakership lower than two weeks later.
The brand new speaker, Mike Johnson, is anticipated to fulfill with Mr. Zelensky alone this week, in line with Raj Shah, a spokesman for Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Zelensky’s workplace mentioned in a press release on Sunday that he would “concentrate on securing unity among the many U.S., Europe and the remainder of the world in supporting Ukraine’s protection towards Russian aggression, in addition to strengthening the worldwide order primarily based on guidelines and respect for the sovereignty of countries.”
There’s nonetheless a major hole to shut in Congress. Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, who’s main the negotiations for his get together, mentioned on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that the G.O.P.’s newest calls for had been “unreasonable.”
“If I had been a cynic, I might say that Republicans have determined to tie help for Ukraine to immigration reform as a result of they need Ukraine support to fail,” he added.
However Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, who’s main negotiations for his get together, rejected such expenses, arguing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Congress needed to deal with each issues.
“What you hear from so many individuals is, why would we take care of different individuals’s safety and ignore American nationwide safety?” Mr. Lankford mentioned, including later, “We will do two issues without delay.”
