Volodymyr Zelensky unexpectedly canceled the video conference intervention in the US Senate planned for this Tuesday. The Ukrainian president was scheduled to appear in the House of Representatives for a classified briefing ahead of tomorrow’s vote on Washington’s continued funding of the war effort against Russia.
“By the way, Zelensky could not attend our briefing – something happened at the last minute,” the Senate majority leader confirmed. Chuck Schumer.
On Wednesday, senators will decide whether or not to launch an emergency aid package worth more than $60 billion for Kiev. The budget has been held up for weeks by a dispute in Congress. The White House has warned that existing resources will be exhausted by the end of the year and that the Russian president, Wladimir Putincould win the war if lawmakers don’t green light the proposal.
Senate Republicans are tying their support for funding to the president’s Democrats Joe Biden Accept measures to address migrant problems at the southern border, reforms that Democrats have already rejected. In that context, Schumer has prepared a vote for Wednesday on clearing the first procedural hurdle to processing Biden’s $106 billion aid request for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. But 60 votes are needed in the 100-member Senate, and the 49-member Republican minority is likely to reject the package because it leaves out immigration reforms.
Even if the two parties manage to reach an agreement in the Senate, which seems unlikely, it will be much harder to achieve in the Republican-led House of Representatives, where conservatives are more skeptical about funding Ukraine and just as keen to do so to use the topic for border reforms. In this sense, the President of the House of Representatives would like, Michael Johnsonconfirmed publicly for the first time Tuesday in a letter to the White House that his party would not approve aid to Ukraine unless Congress passes “transformative change to our nation’s border security laws.”
Andriy Yermak, one of Zelensky’s top advisers, thanked Americans for their support so far during an appearance in Washington hours before the president’s scheduled speech, but added that more help was needed to secure victory. “It is very difficult for our people, but Ukrainians remain very motivated. “Our people believe and are sure that we will win,” he told the press.
