WASHINGTON – House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that there is no solution to the impasse over President Biden’s request for $61.4 billion in new funding for Ukraine.
Johnson (R-La.) said that he told Zelesnky in a private meeting that “we stand with him and oppose [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” but he is concerned about the lack of a plan to resolve the conflict and provide oversight of the proposed spending.
“I have been asking the White House since the day I was given the gavel as speaker for clarity. We need a clear articulation of a strategy to enable Ukraine to win, and so far their response has been insufficient,” Johnson said.
“They haven’t given us the clarity and detail that we’ve asked for over and over in the 24 hours since I was handed the gavel … So what the Biden administration seems to be asking for is billions of additional dollars without proper oversight, no. a clear strategy to win, and none of the answers I think the American people are owed.”
Zelensky, 45, arrived Tuesday morning at the Capitol to woo skeptics of additional US aid before heading to the White House for an afternoon press conference with Biden to warn of dwindling funds for Kyiv to counter Moscow’s nearly two-year-old encroachment.
The Ukrainian leader, dressed in his now familiar military uniform of a sweatshirt and olive pants, was flanked by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), both supporters of further funding, as he arrived for a closed briefing with the senator.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived Tuesday morning at the Capitol. Getty Images
Zelensky’s subsequent meeting with Johnson was seen as crucial in his bid to break the deadlock amid growing opposition to the funding in the US polls and among lawmakers.
Johnson has tried to forge a middle ground approach, including by supporting more oversight and efforts by congressional Republicans to tie Ukraine funds to changes in US-Mexico border policy.
“In the last three months, October, November, December alone, we’ve had more illegal border crossings than any other year during the Obama administration,” Johnson said after meeting Zelensky. “The American people see this. They felt it acutely. They see all the terrible societal ills that come from this, and it must be addressed.”
Zelensky warned funds were running low to counter Moscow’s aggression. Reuters
The speaker added: “I’ve made this very clear — again, from the very beginning, when I was given the gavel — we need clarity on what we’re doing in Ukraine and how we’re going to have proper oversight of the spending of taxpayer dollars valuable tax … and we need transformative change at the border. So far, we’ve gotten neither.”
Johnson went on to say that “the Senate has been MIA on this” and that the legislative backlog “is not a House issue right now. The issue is with the White House and the Senate, and I implore them to do their job because the time is pressing. And we want to do things that right here.”
Earlier Tuesday, Johnson told radio host Hugh Hewitt that he was inclined to let the House take a Christmas break without a deal on relief spending.
Zelesnky is also heading to the White House for a press conference with President Biden. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Johnson told The Post in an interview last month that he was interested in redirecting more than $300 billion in seized Russian assets to finance the war, but that idea did not materialize.
President Biden in October requested another $61.4 billion in funding for Kyiv — on top of the $113 billion already approved — and asked Congress to tie it to the more popular $14.3 billion in spending for Israel following an Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 people.
Biden and his aides have repeatedly claimed that funds are running low and that without American help, the Ukrainian government may be powerless to stop Russian aggression.
Republicans have responded that the Biden administration has given no indication of what would constitute a victory for Ukraine.
“They didn’t explain to us what the match was,” Johnson told Hewitt Tuesday. “I mean, our ambassador, the US to Ukraine told me in my office just a few weeks ago that he believes the endgame is a return to the 1991 border lines, which is to retake Crimea.
“And I said ‘Ma’am, do you realize that’s not what your boss said?’ I mean, they don’t know in the White House itself what the strategy is.”
The House approved Israeli funding without Ukraine’s greater request last month, reflecting strong opposition to more funding in the lower house.
Several senators opposed to additional Ukrainian funding spoke out about Zelensky’s visit – a year after he received a hero’s welcome last December when he addressed a joint meeting of Congress.
After Zelensky said on Monday, “if anyone is inspired by the unresolved issues on Capitol Hill, it’s only [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his sick gang,” Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) answered, “Nice to see Zelensky has all the nuances of liberal Twitter opposition. embarrassing And it’s rude that he’s coming to the Senate to put pressure on Republicans as we fight for more border security.”
A Pew Research Center poll released this month found that 31% of Americans say the US is giving “too much” support to Ukraine, while 18% say “not enough” and 29% say “about right.” There was a heavy partisan bias, with 48% of Republicans saying “too much,” compared to 16% of Democrats.
A Wall Street Journal poll released Monday found 37% of voters said the US is doing “too much” for Ukraine, with 20% saying “not enough” and 31% saying Washington is doing “about the right amount” to support Kyiv.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
