President Joe Biden has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House on Tuesday to jumpstart negotiations with Congress on providing additional aid to Ukraine. Lawmakers have not been able to reach an agreement on funding for Ukraine and other national security priorities, leading to a potential funding shortfall by the end of the year.
Zelenskyy is scheduled to visit Washington on Tuesday and will meet with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, among others. President Biden has revised his funding request to include more money for Ukraine’s military and to replace U.S. military equipment that has been provided to the country. The Biden administration is seeking over $60 billion for the effort as part of a larger national security package of roughly $106 billion, which also includes money for Israel and the U.S. border with Mexico.
Zelenskyy has been advocating for more aid during several trips to Washington in the last year, including a visit in December when he delivered an address to a joint session of Congress. However, Congress has been at a stalemate over Biden’s funding request, with disagreements on U.S. border security and opposition by some Republicans in the House to continuing to fund Ukraine’s military operations. Lawmakers are scheduled to leave town at the end of the week and have not been able to come to an agreement on funding for Ukraine. This has led the White House to warn that it would run out of money to help Ukraine’s military combat Russia’s invasion by the end of the year.
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