Zelensky’s last-ditch plea to save $44B US aid package: Ukrainian president prepares to meet Biden and speak to Congress as Republicans and more Americans grow more skeptical about giving more money to Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will make a last-minute request to Congress on Tuesday for an arms package to continue the fight against Russia, as nearly half of Americans say the US has already spent too much on the war-torn country.

His personal visit, his third since the war began, will be his most decisive and a sign of how dire the White House believes the situation is, both for Zelensky’s funding and how important that money is in keeping Russian forces at bay.

But a Financial Times and Michigan Ross poll found that 48% of voters said the US was spending “too much” on sending financial and military aid to Ukraine. The Pew poll found only 31% of Americans saying the same, but – when there was a further decline – 48% of Republicans said too much was being spent on Kyiv.

President Joe 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.

“This cannot wait,” Biden said in an impassioned televised address from the White House on Wednesday.

“Frankly, I think it’s amazing that we’ve even gotten to this point where Republicans in Congress are willing to give Putin the greatest gift he could ever hope for.”

Zelensky said he would tell Biden and lawmakers about the achievements he believes Ukraine can expect if it wins next year.

“I am confident that freedom can be stronger than any of its enemies,” he said.

Zelensky will begin his day on Capitol Hill by attending a meeting of all senators after a joint invitation from Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. He will then meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson.

He then heads to the White House for an Oval Office meeting with Biden and a joint news conference with the president.

“Now is the time to invite President Zelensky to town for these discussions because of what is happening in Ukraine, because of the increased activity of the Russian military that we are seeing as winter approaches, and also because of what is happening in Capitol Hill,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday.

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 is ticking.

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

But Republicans appear to be standing firm ahead of Zelensky’s meetings with them. The right, led by 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump, is bitterly opposed to Ukraine.

“It is in America’s best interest to recognize that Ukraine will have to cede some territory to the Russians and we need to end the war,” Sen. J.D. Vance, a close Trump ally, said Sunday.

“If Congress must delay voting on additional security measures in order to reach an agreement on border security, so be it. The risks associated with an unsecured border are simply too great,” Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer wrote on X.

Zelensky’s wife also makes plea to Europe as Hungry threatens to veto European Union vote on approval Aid to Ukraine will amount to $50 billion.

“We really need help,” Elena Zelenskaya told the BBC over the weekend. “Simply put, we cannot get tired of this situation, because if we do, we will die.”

She added: “It pains us to see signs that the passion to help may be fading.”

As President Zelensky headed to Washington on Monday, the Russian military launched its most intense salvo of ballistic missiles into Kyiv in months.

All eight missiles aimed at the city of 3.3 million people were shot down, the Ukrainian military said.

In his first public appearance in America on Monday, Zelensky warned that failure to help his country defeat Russia was fulfilling Vladimir Putin’s “dreams” of destroying democracy in Europe.

“Let me be frank with you, friends — if there is anyone who is inspired by the unresolved problems on Capitol Hill, it is Putin and his sick cabal,” Zelensky told the National Defense University. “They see their dreams come true when they see delays.”

“When the free world falters, then dictatorships triumph.”

Zelensky said politicians should not “betray the soldier,” pointing out that Putin welcomes a drying up US.

“You can count on Ukraine, and we hope that we can count on you,” Zelensky said. “Putin must lose.”

His warning came ahead of his meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Brown at the National Defense University.

He wore his signature green army-style sweatshirt with the words “I’m Ukrainian” on it and flew into Washington after a diplomatic round this weekend in Argentina.

Meanwhile, Putin appeared in a video circulated online on Sunday, where he said: Ukraine will only become weaker as Russia becomes stronger.

“When you don’t have your own funds, you don’t have your own ideology, you don’t have your own industry, you don’t have your own money,” he said, holding a glass of champagne. . – You have nothing of your own. Then you have no future, but we have a future.”