Last week Biden has assured his Ukrainian counterpart that $60bn in military aid is on its way….reports Asian Lite News
President Joe Biden has said that he is willing to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson in order to secure the long-awaited passage of a bill that contains funding for the provision of additional arms to Ukraine.
“Sure, I’d be happy to meet with him if he has anything to say,” Biden told reporters on Monday as he returned to the White House from Delaware, where he spent the weekend.
The President said House GOP members, led by Johnson, are “making a big mistake by not responding” to the repeated calls from the White House that they should approve the administration’s supplemental budget request and meet Ukraine’s urgent need for resupply of ammunition in its conflict with Russia.
“The way they’re walking away from the threat of Russia, they way they’re walking away from NATO, the way they’re walking away from meeting our obligations. It’s just shocking. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Biden added.
Johnson, who’s been withholding a vote in his chamber on a Senate-passed national security spending bill in order to squeeze out Democrats’ compromise allowing significant upgrades to border security, told reporters last week that he had been requesting a meeting with Biden “for weeks”.
“A month I’ve been asking to sit down with the President to talk about the border and talk about national security, and that meeting has not been granted,” Johnson said.
“And I’m going to continue to insist on that, because they’re very serious issues that need to be addressed. And if the Speaker of the House can’t meet with the President of the United States, that’s a problem.”
Last week Biden has assured his Ukrainian counterpart that $60bn in military aid is on its way.
The measure still needs to pass a final congressional vote, but Mr Biden told Volodymyr Zelensky that he was confident it would be approved.
Zelensky had earlier made an urgent appeal for more weapons to avoid a “catastrophic” situation in Europe. The US has blamed Ukraine’s withdrawal from the battle at Avdiivka on a lack of Congressional support.
Taking Avdiivka – a gateway to the Russian-seized Donetsk regional capital in the east – is Russia’s first notable gain since they seized nearby Bakhmut in May.
“Ukraine’s military was forced to withdraw from Avdiivka after Ukrainian soldiers had to ration ammunition due to dwindling supplies as a result of congressional inaction,” a White House statement read.
Earlier this week, the US Senate approved a $95bn (£75bn) foreign aid package – which includes $60bn for Ukraine – after months of political wrangling. But it still faces an uphill battle in the House of Representatives, where members of the Republican Party are divided on the measure.
“Look, the Ukrainian people have fought so bravely and heroically, they’ve put so much on the line and the idea that now, when they’re running out of ammunition, we’d walk away – I find it absurd,” Biden told reporters following his call with Mr Zelensky on Saturday.
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