US President Joe Biden urged Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress on Tuesday (27) to “urgently” approve a military aid package for Ukraine.
Biden made these statements in the Oval Office of the White House, where he met with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, House of Representatives Leader Hakeem Jeffries, as well as Senate Republican Leader Mitch. McConnell and House Leader Mike Johnson, the latter with the greatest resistance to approving aid to Ukraine.
At the beginning of the meeting, Biden said to the press: “Ukraine is in dire need of help.”
The president stated that “the consequences of daily inaction in Ukraine are appalling” and that some G7 members (Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan) told him they were “deeply concerned” about the US position.
Aid to Ukraine has stalled in Congress with Johnson's refusal to put to a vote a $95 billion aid bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, which the Senate passed this month with the support of a majority of Democrats and about 20 Republicans, including their leader. ,McConnell.
Biden also called on congressional leaders to approve Israel's share of the aid so that the country can resupply Iron Dome air defense missiles to defend against air strikes by the Palestinian Hamas movement.
However, Ukraine was the most controversial topic at the meeting held behind closed doors.
Later, in remarks to reporters, Schumer revealed that the conversation was “one of the most intense” he had had in the Oval Office throughout his career.
Meanwhile, Johnson described the meeting as generally “frank and honest”, but declined to provide details about his strategy regarding the aid package for Ukraine.
Johnson, who leads the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, repeated his argument that in order to vote on the aid package for Ukraine, steps must first be taken to strengthen the border in the face of record arrivals of illegal immigrants.
For months, Republicans have made aid to Ukraine conditional on passing a bill to strengthen the border and weaken the asylum system.
