On a visit to Ukraine, Schumer wants to put pressure on the Republican Party to pass the aid bill

Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, will travel to Ukraine on Friday for a visit aimed at showing American solidarity with a Democratic ally under attack by Russia and increasing pressure on Republicans to voice their opposition to additional US aid to drop.

The trip, Schumer’s first official trip to Ukraine, comes at a critical time as a foreign aid package that includes more than $60 billion in military aid for Kiev is stalled on Capitol Hill amid Republican resistance.

It amounts to a victory lap of sorts for Mr. Schumer, the New York Democrat who managed to maneuver the relief bill through the Senate this month in a resounding bipartisan vote after months of partisan wrangling.

But it is also a last-ditch effort to save the legislation in the House of Representatives. Under pressure from right-wing hardliners hostile to funding the Ukrainian war effort, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has rejected requests from both parties to set the war aside.

Mr. Schumer plans to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and his newly appointed military commander, Oleksandr Syrsky. He said he hopes to show how Congress’ continued push for more aid has hurt Ukraine’s battlefield efforts and call on Republicans in the House of Representatives to take action before it’s too late.

“We think we can bring back very strong, specific evidence about why Ukraine is losing the war for the first time — or, you know, withdrawing from the war,” Mr. Schumer said in an interview before his speech. departure. He cited a lack of ammunition – a key part of US military aid packages since early 2022 – as the main reason. “We also think we can bring back a vision and provide a lot of detail about how Ukraine can win this war, if they get what they need.”

It is unclear how loudly his message will resonate in Washington.

Mr. Schumer said the main American audience for the trip was Republican lawmakers who had expressed support for Ukraine’s cause but voted against sending more military aid.

That group has grown significantly in the past year, as opposition to helping Kiev has become a political necessity on the right, fueled in part by former President Donald J. Trump’s “America First” worldview. In the fall, Republican leaders adopted a new message to justify the opposition, arguing that the United States had nothing to do with helping Ukraine maintain its sovereignty unless or until the country could establish its own border with Mexico. secure through strict immigration restrictions.

“There are a lot of people who are torn, in the Senate and the House of Representatives on the Republican side, who knew this was the right thing to do, but who are afraid of Donald Trump’s vindictiveness,” Schumer said.

He said he believed this was the case with Mr. Johnson, even though the speaker has repeatedly voted against sending aid to Ukraine.

“Speaker Johnson has spoken positively about Ukraine,” Schumer said. “I think he knows that if he put a bill on the floor, it would get majority support.”

Yet aid advocates have made little progress against the chairman, who has never voted for Ukraine and faces threats from far-right Republicans to oust him from his position if he allows a vote on the matter.

After Representative Michael R. Turner, Republican of Ohio and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, led a bipartisan delegation to Kiev this month, where he met Mr. Zelensky and promised that the United States would generate additional funding, Mr. Johnson showed no signs that his position changes.

“The Republican-led House will not be stymied or forced to pass a foreign aid bill that most Republican senators opposed and that does nothing to secure our own border,” Mr. Johnson said just days after the trip from Mr. Turner.

Mr. Schumer leads an all-Democratic delegation that includes Senators Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee; Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut; Michael Bennet from Colorado and Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and minority leader who has been an outspoken advocate for aid to Ukraine, led a similarly sized GOP delegation to Ukraine in 2022.

The trip represents an expansion of an international profile that Mr. Schumer has tried to cultivate since becoming majority leader. Over the past year he has logged trips to India, Pakistan, Israel, China and various points in Europe. This also applies to last week, when he addressed attendees at the Munich Security Conference.

“The Europeans are dismayed that America – which has always been the strength of NATO, the strength of the Western alliance – could consider turning its back on Europe,” Schumer said of his talks with foreign leaders in Munich on Ukraine. He said his trip was important to “show Europe that we are not turning our backs, we are fighting for this and we will keep fighting until we get the help.”

Mr. Schumer added that he had no intention of giving in to demands from some Republicans that the United States focus its efforts in Ukraine solely on military aid and leave economic and humanitarian assistance to European counterparts. The Senate-passed bill also includes economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine to maintain civilian infrastructure and help people displaced by the fighting.

He also indicated that he and White House officials were exploring options to circumvent Republican resistance in the House of Representatives if their efforts failed to convince Mr. Johnson and others to allow a vote .

“We are going to work with the government to figure out how to get this help,” Mr. Schumer said. “It is a crucial question for the world; it is a crucial question for history. It goes beyond the immediate politics of the moment.”