WASHINGTON \u2014 Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the United States to break a deadlock over more than $60 billion in military aid, warning on a visit to Washington that the funding fight only benefits President Vladimir Putin and risks his country\u2019s ability to push back against Russian forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me be frank with you, friends \u2014 if there\u2019s anyone inspired by unresolved issues on Capitol Hill, it\u2019s just Putin and his sick clique,\u201d Zelenskyy told the National Defense University on Monday, speaking alongside U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. \u201cWhen the free world hesitates, that\u2019s when dictatorships celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The speech was the first stop on a two-day visit that will see Zelenskyy meet Republican lawmakers who have so far refused to budge on approving about $60 billion in aid that Ukraine, as well as President Joe Biden and officials from the International Monetary Fund. <\/p>\n
The visit comes during a crucial week in the nearly two-year war, with funds from the U.S. and European Union threatened by internal politics just as Kyiv\u2019s counteroffensive sputters heading into winter.<\/p>\n
Biden\u2019s team argues that the money will run out by the end of the year, but there\u2019s so far no sign that the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, will allow a vote to approve the aid before lawmakers start the winter holiday at the end of the week. That has provoked fresh questions about the reliability of U.S. aid and shaken allied nations in Europe who worry it will give an opening for Russian President Vladimir Putin to press ahead with his campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we do not stand up to the Kremlin\u2019s aggression today, if we do not deter other would-be aggressors, we will only invite more aggression, more bloodshed, more chaos,\u201d Austin said at the event with Zelenskyy. \u201cAmerica\u2019s commitments must be honored.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ukraine is also facing funding challenges in Europe. Hungary has threatened to block aid when leaders meet later this week and is so far opposed to starting talks on granting Ukraine membership to the EU. Zelenskyy arrived in Washington after stopping Sunday in Buenos Aires, where he appealed to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a brief meeting on the sidelines of Argentinian President Javier Milei\u2019s inauguration. <\/p>\n
While in Washington, Zelenskyy also met with the head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva. The fund\u2019s executive board on Monday approved a $900 million disbursement from its broader $15.6 billion aid package, the first time the IMF has lent to a country at war. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs the IMF has noted repeatedly, timely and predictable external financing is critical in sustaining the hard-earned economic gains,\u201d Georgieva said in a statement, without mentioning any countries.<\/p>\n
Many analysts didn\u2019t see the situation as urgent for Ukraine\u2019s ultimate survival, but flagged a failure to act would give Putin an opening militarily and politically. <\/p>\n
Michael O\u2019Hanlon, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said the situation for Ukraine may not be \u201cmake or break\u201d this week, given that there could be a smaller assistance package early next year, but pointed to \u201cthe broader sense of political momentum\u201d that could see Putin emboldened by a splintering in Washington and other Western capitals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very much in American interests that this thing gets solved in the month of December,\u201d said John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. If negotiations drag into January or even February, \u201cthere will be damage in delay, but not irreparable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Political Momentum\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Greg Valliere, chief U.S. policy strategist at AGF Investments Inc. said a failure to support Kyiv now risks leaving the U.S. to blame for any defeat. \u201cThat could be a devastating story for Washington,\u201d he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. \u201cVladimir Putin has to be very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Ukraine isn\u2019t necessarily facing imminent military defeat, Valliere said. But abandoning Ukraine in its hour of need would create an enormous geopolitical risk to the U.S. and its European allies. \u201cThe momentum right now is with Russia,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Facing a troop shortage as a relentless ground war in eastern and southern Ukraine heads into winter, Zelenskyy has said his country\u2019s counteroffensive this year didn\u2019t achieve its goals because allies failed to provide hoped-for weapons. <\/p>\n Biden and his team have repeatedly pushed for the aid to be released, but congressional Republicans say they want more funding for the southern border.<\/p>\n Continued U.S. support has hit a snag as senators struggle to reach a compromise on U.S.-Mexico border policy. Biden proposed almost $106 billion in emergency spending in October, including some $61 billion for a year\u2019s worth of assistance to Ukraine, and $13.6 billion to secure the border. <\/p>\n With the package in limbo in Congress, Biden\u2019s budget director Shalanda Young said on Dec. 4 that the U.S. would run out of resources to assist Ukraine by the end of the calendar year.<\/p>\n _____ <\/p>\n (Tom Keene, Lisa Abramowicz and Kateryna Chursina contributed to this report.)<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n