Biden says Russia celebrates U.S. division over providing aid to Ukraine

President Biden warned on Tuesday that Russia was celebrating US divisions over providing aid to Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelensky ran into a wall of resistance from Republicans in Congress during a lobbying blitz in Washington.

From the White House, with Mr. Zelensky at his side, Mr. Biden said that not supporting Ukraine would be a gift to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

“Putin is counting on the United States to fail to deliver for Ukraine,” Biden said at the White House. “We have to, we have to, we have to prove him wrong.”

Republican leaders in Congress have insisted that any aid to Ukraine comes with tighter security at the southern border, arguing that the migrant crisis had become a national security threat.

But even Republican supporters of more aid to Ukraine appeared to have given up hope of its approval before Congress went home for the holidays.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, the top Republican, suggested the effort was all but dead this year, saying it would be “virtually impossible” to quickly strike a deal that ties aid to Ukraine to the kind of border security package Republicans are demanding. .

The efforts by the two leaders come at what may be the most vulnerable point in Ukraine’s war since the country repelled the Russian invasion in the winter and spring of 2022. While the United States has since provided tens of billions of dollars in aid, Ukraine’s top military commander, General Valery Zaluzhny, said last month that the war had reached a stalemate as deadly battles yielded little territorial gain.

The White House and Kiev have argued that if Ukraine loses the war, Mr Putin will gain the courage to push his military aggression deeper into the West.

Mr. Biden accused Republicans of holding military aid to Ukraine “hostage” in exchange for “an extreme Republican partisan agenda at the border.” He cited comments from Russian broadcasters praising Republicans for refusing to approve aid to Ukraine.

“This host of a Kremlin-run show said, ‘Good job, Republicans. That’s good for us,’” Mr. Biden told reporters during a brief news conference. “If you are being praised by Russian propagandists, perhaps it is time to reconsider what you are doing. History, history will judge harshly those who turn their backs on the cause of freedom.”

The chances of Congress passing a bailout package for Ukraine before the end of the year have become bleak after Republicans blocked the measure last week and polls showed Americans were skeptical about providing financial aid.

Senators directly involved in the negotiations reported some progress, but there were no signs that an agreement was imminent.

Biden, however, sought to project an air of confidence on Tuesday about his key foreign policy goals. He said his top aides were working on “a bipartisan compromise” that could satisfy both sides.

“We also need Congress to fix the broken immigration system here at home,” Biden said, with a nod to Republicans.

After a closed-door meeting with Mr Biden at the White House, Mr Zelensky thanked the United States for its assistance to Ukraine but said support must continue.

“It is very important that by the end of this year we can send a very strong signal of our unity to the aggressor and to the unity of Ukraine, America, Europe and the entire free world,” Mr. Zelensky said.

The press conference deliberately kept vague any estimate of how long the current arms budget for Ukraine could last. Mr. Biden signed off on a $200 million delivery during the visit, using funds from previous congressional appropriations. But the volume and frequency of American arms supplies have declined.

US officials are quietly exploring other options if Congress does not act, from emergency appropriations approved by Mr Biden to seizing Russian assets captured in the West and using them for weaponry.

Senior US officials have experienced significant frustration in dealing with Mr Zelensky and his generals. They have pushed for a new strategy that they say Congress will turn the tide. Mr. Zelensky, an official said last week, was moving toward an approach that focused on defending Kiev, protection around key industrial centers and a route to the Black Sea to expand grain exports.

These options are being fought for in Germany this month and next, with the hope of coming up with an approach by 2024 that would reduce the horrific bloodshed and leave Mr Zelensky in a stronger negotiating position.

In Washington, Chairman Mike Johnson accused the White House of failing to chart a clear path to Ukraine’s victory, which Republicans also say is a necessary condition for unlocking military aid. Mr Johnson has repeatedly voted against aid to Ukraine.

There was no sign that the visit by Mr Zelensky – who was welcomed as a hero by Congress just a year ago – had done anything to break the impasse over aid.

“Our first condition for any additional national security spending package is about our own national security,” Mr Johnson told reporters shortly after noting that he had “reiterated” to Mr Zelensky that “we support him against the brutal invasion of Putin.”

During Zelensky’s meeting with senators, a number of Republicans told him directly that securing the U.S. border with Mexico was key to getting aid for his country.

“I told President Zelensky, ‘Here’s the problem: It has nothing to do with you,’” Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, told reporters after the session.

Congressional leaders are toying with the idea of ​​trying to keep Congress in session next week to continue trying to reach a deal on Ukraine financing and border security. But it’s unclear whether a few more days will be enough time to strike such a bargain.

“They say it’s an emergency, both at the border and in Ukraine?” Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, told reporters. “You’re not going home for three weeks. You don’t say ‘we can postpone it for three weeks’ if it’s an emergency.”

The White House also appeared to become more directly involved in the negotiations, sending White House officials and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to meet with negotiators on Capitol Hill.

But Congress appeared no closer to reaching consensus on an agreement that would include immigration, one of the most contentious issues in the United States. While the White House has expressed support for some asylum restrictions, Republicans are also pushing for a nationwide expansion of rapid deportations.

At a news conference Tuesday, Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, said her party would not agree to “a partisan wish list of permanent, far-right overhauls of immigration policy.”

“It sends a dangerous message when half of the Senate is focused on pitting allies and crises against each other as a political bargaining chip,” she said.

Kayla Guo, Robert Jimison And David E. Sanger reporting contributed.