WASHINGTON \u2014 Lawmakers in the U.S. House omitted further aid to Ukraine from a proposal that would keep the government open, signaling that support for funding its fight against the Russian invasion is getting harder.<\/p>\n
The decision Saturday to scuttle the aid \u2014 at least for now \u2014 is a blow to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who last week met with President Joe Biden and lawmakers and personally pleaded for new weapons systems, including F-16 fighter jets and longer-range ATACMS missiles.<\/p>\n
Biden\u2019s administration and senior Republicans sought to reassure Ukraine that U.S. military aid won\u2019t stop after House Democrats and Republicans joined to pass the short-term spending bill that left out $6 billion for the country\u2019s push to retake Russian-occupied territory. The assistance may be supplied in a separate bill down the road.<\/p>\n
Speaker Kevin McCarthy indicated he would try to tie the aid to U.S. border policy changes that Democrats oppose.<\/p>\n
Sen. Jim Risch, the senior Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said he\u2019s confident that Ukraine funding will be maintained and there\u2019s \u201cabsolutely no question about\u201d Republican support for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not the end of the of the appropriation process,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Ukraine funding will be in at the end.\u201d <\/p>\n
Lawmakers in both parties who support the Ukraine funding said it could be handled separately. A White House official welcomed the House-passed bill and said the Biden administration expects Ukraine aid to be handled separately.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one should take this as a message that somehow there\u2019s a reduction in the commitment that the United States made to Ukraine,\u201d Risch said.<\/p>\n
Continued backing from the U.S. and its allies is vital for Zelenskyy as his forces struggle to advance against Russian troops still occupying about 17% of his territory, fueling doubts about his ability to oust them completely.<\/p>\n
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is among Ukraine\u2019s strongest allies. Yet other Republicans, including some who support the country\u2019s fight more broadly, didn\u2019t want to move ahead with more funding for Kyiv in a short-term bill without dealing with migration at the U.S. border, according to a person familiar with Senate Republicans\u2019 thinking.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also some question about how urgently Ukraine needs additional money, the person said.<\/p>\n
The U.S. has supplied some $44 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia\u2019s invasion in early 2022 and defense officials have warned of the risk of hardware shortfalls, including in the U.S. military\u2019s own stockpile.<\/p>\n
The Pentagon has \u201cexhausted nearly all available security assistance funding for Ukraine\u201d and a funding gap would delay or curtail urgent needs, including air defense and ammunition, Comptroller Michael McCord said in a letter to House Democrats on Friday.<\/p>\n
Cracks have begun to emerge in the support for Kyiv, with Poland, a key ally, this month threatening to suspend arms deliveries in a dispute over grain shipments. At the same time, Zelenskyy\u2019s efforts to win over major countries of the developing world at the United Nations General Assembly last week yielded few visible results.<\/p>\n
McCarthy, who has asked for accountability of money that has already gone to Ukraine, told reporters last week that he rejected Zelenskyy\u2019s request to address Congress again because lawmakers didn\u2019t have time in a \u201cbusy week.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hard-liners in McCarthy\u2019s party have said the U.S. would be better served directing more money to the U.S. military to better prepare for any direct fight against China or Russia.<\/p>\n
McCarthy\u2019s decision to defy ultraconservatives on the short-term spending bill could free him from the grip of the far right.<\/p>\n
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