In dire need of more military support amid a middling to poor Ukrainian offensive, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. President Joe Biden in the White House on Thursday, September 21st.
During what was the Ukrainian leader’s second visit to the White House since the beginning of the war, Biden pledged a new military aid package worth $325 million (€305 million), Reuters reports.
The package would include air defense systems, artillery ammunition, and armored vehicles. In addition, according to Biden, the first U.S. Abrams tanks, which it pledged in late January, will arrive in Ukraine next week.
“Mr. President, we’re with you, we’re staying with you,” Biden assured Zelensky, to which the latter responded that the new military aid package was “exactly what our soldiers need now.”
While Zelensky has managed to secure another couple of hundreds of millions, the outcome is nonetheless less than ideal, since he has to head home without his long-requested ATACMS—a surface-to-surface long distance artillery weapon system capable of striking targets up to 190 miles (300 km) away.
During a press briefing, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan mentioned that the option remains on the table for Washington. “As he [President Biden] weighed all that up, to date, he has determined that he would not provide ATACMS, but he has also not taken it off the table in the future.”
Despite the commitments made by Biden, the issue of continued aid to Ukraine is growing ever more contentious with Republicans in Congress.
Whereas during his last visit, the Ukrainian president received fulsome praise from Congress following his speech, this time he faced a different audience altogether, as rebellion is growing within the GOP over President Biden’s proposal for a new aid package worth $24 billion(€22.5 billion), for which he needs Congressional approval.
According to a source, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy turned down Zelensky’s request to address a joint session of Congress due to lack of time.
Deliberations with leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives, including McCarthy, also took place that day, but happened behind closed doors.
Again according to CNN, the House Speaker even tried to avoid being photographed with Zelensky, having denied official photographers access to the room where the meeting took place.
Only last Tuesday, September 19th, McCarthy asked:
“Was Zelensky elected to Congress? Is he our president? I don’t think so. I have questions for where’s the accountability on the money we’ve already spent? What is the plan for victory [over Russia]?”
Since McCarthy’s party, which wants to prioritize domestic issues, has a majority in the House, it could block Biden’s request.
Asked how to overcome the GOP’s opposition, Biden said the only way forward was approval by the U.S. Congress. “I am counting on the good judgment of the United States Congress. There is no alternative,” he said.
