Biden tells Zelensky not to give up hope and warns Congress will give Putin ‘the greatest Christmas gift’ ever if they don’t approve aid for Ukraine as Mitch McConnell says talks are DEAD for the year

President Joe Biden told Volodymyr Zelensky not to lose hope as he hosted the Ukrainian president at the White House on Tuesday as part of a pressure campaign to get congressional Republicans to approve the tools Kyiv needs to fight Russian troops.

“I don’t want you to lose hope,” Biden told him in the Oval Office. “We’re going to stay by your side.”

Zelensky flew to Washington to advocate for $61.4 billion that is being held by Republicans on Capitol Hill who want to secure provisions related to the security of the US southern border.

“People need to have confidence that freedom will be durable and strong enough to win,” he told Biden at the Oval.

And Biden warned that Congress will give Russian President Vladimir Putin his “greatest Christmas gift” if they do not approve increased funding for Ukraine.

“Congress needs to pass additional funding for Ukraine before they recess, before they give Putin the biggest Christmas gift they can give him,” Biden said.

The Ukrainian president spent the morning at the Capitol lobbying lawmakers, but it may have all been for good reason: Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told his senators that the talks were going nowhere.

McConnell, at a private dinner in the Senate, which took place shortly before Biden’s meeting with Zelensky, said that negotiations would be postponed to January, Punchbowl DC reported.

The move would be a blow to the Biden administration and his Zelensky’s war effort.

Biden repeated his concerns that Putin will escalate his offensive if Congress does not act. And he warned that Putin plans to bomb Ukraine’s power grid this winter.

“Putin plans to bomb Ukraine’s power grid with missiles, plunging families into darkness during the coldest time of the year and causing massive damage. We cannot and will not allow him to succeed,” Biden said.

Zelensky said his country is working to become less dependent on foreign aid.

“Ukraine is becoming less dependent on aid, and we are moving in the right direction, and I want to discuss with the president how to strengthen it, especially strengthening our air defense and ability to destroy Russian logistics,” he said.

Zelensky’s personal visit to Washington, his third since the war began, is his most important and a sign of how dire the White House believes the situation is: both in getting Zelensky his funding and how important that money is for containing Russian troops. .

Biden has asked Congress for $61.4 billion for Ukraine as part of a $110 billion package that also includes money for Israel and other national security priorities.

The money is mired in debate over U.S. immigration policy and border security, with no sign of an agreement in sight. And Congress plans to leave town later this week for the rest of the year.

Many Republican lawmakers, especially in the House, argue that enough American money has been spent on Ukraine that it would be better spent at home. These GOP lawmakers are trying to tie border security to a funding package for Kyiv and Israel.

The US has already given Ukraine $111 billion for its fight since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded the country in February 2022.

But the Biden administration has warned that failure to renew military aid to Ukraine could tip the nearly two-year war in Russia’s favor, posing threats to Western national security.

Zelensky began his day on Capitol Hill by attending a meeting of all senators at the joint invitation of Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. He then met with House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Biden’s budget director, Shalanda Young, said Dec. 4 that the U.S. will run out of resources to help Ukraine by the end of the calendar year.

By mid-November, the US Department of Defense had used 97% of the $62.3 billion in additional funding, and the State Department had used all of the $4.7 billion in military aid to Ukraine it had been allocated, she noted.

The US has provided roughly half of Ukraine’s military aid, and it is unlikely that any other country will be able to make up the difference. In addition, the US sent American weapons systems that require American ammunition.

The Biden administration is doing everything it can to finance Zelensky’s war.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking on Sunday political talk shows, warned that the clock was ticking.

“It’s time to really step up because if we don’t, we know what’s going to happen.” Putin will be able to move forward with impunity, and we know he will not stop at Ukraine,” Blinken said.

Johnson left the meeting with Zelensky seemingly unwavering on the urgent need for help, insisting that not a single US dollar would cross the border without adequate measures at the US border.

“I repeated to him that we support him and oppose Putin’s brutal invasion,” the speaker said of their conversation.

But he added: “I have been reaching out to the White House since the day I was given the gavel as speaker, and to be clear, we need a clear articulation of the strategy that will allow Ukraine to win.”

Johnson then accused Democrats of not being open enough to the border provisions Republicans are demanding in exchange for foreign aid.

“This is not a House problem right now, it’s a White House and Senate problem, and I implore them to do their job,” the speaker said.

Schumer said he called Johnson and asked him to keep the House in session. But Johnson said he would not do so unless there was a clear path forward.

‘I don’t know what else to do. I’m not going to make everyone sit here until the end. Christmas twirling their fingers,” he said.

“We are ready to work. Deputies will work. We’ve demonstrated this over and over and over again, but we’re getting no cooperation from the White House or Senate Democrats,” Johnson told radio host Hugh Hewitt this morning.

Zelensky, meanwhile, asked for “life-or-death” help to continue his country’s fight against Russia.

“The fight we are in is a fight for freedom,” he said repeatedly in meetings, according to lawmakers.

He also told senators that his citizens would resort to “guerrilla warfare” if necessary, and support would dry up.

“The President did mention at one point about partisan warfare if he doesn’t get that kind of support—if it degrades (to) that point,” Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson told a group of reporters after the meeting.

“What I mean is that Putin will have to face a long-term guerrilla war in any part of Ukraine that you occupy and which may not be particularly attractive to him,” he said.

President Biden has expressed a willingness to reach an agreement with Republicans on border funding, but Republicans say the administration will not give up on their pursuit of policy victories. The Biden administration says the supplies the US can supply to Ukraine are running low.

“The day we get these policy changes. We’ll get a good number of votes in the Senate, and I think a fair number of votes in the House of Representatives,” predicted Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.

As for the Ukrainians, “they will fight forever, but they need not only money and the help that we are going to give them.” They need more weapons, longer range weapons,” he said.