Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the United States on Monday against allowing politics to “betray” his beleaguered army in its war with Russia, registering the latest appeal for further support as some Republican lawmakers appear disinterested in renewing President Biden’s request for billions of dollars in U.S. military assistance as the conflict stalemates.
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Zelensky arrives in Washington as Ukraine aid stalls in Congress
Zelensky, speaking to an audience of U.S. and international military personnel at the National Defense University in Washington, said that his government’s chance at victory was in the balance. And although he did not single out Republicans, the Ukrainian leader claimed that Russia and the aims of its president, Vladimir Putin, stand to benefit from a lack of action in Congress.
“When the free world hesitates,” Zelensky said, “that’s when dictators celebrate. … If there’s anyone inspired by unresolved issues on Capitol Hill, it is just Putin and his sick clique.”
“It’s crucial that politics don’t even try to betray the soldier,” he added later. “Just like weapons are needed for their defense, freedom always requires unity.”
On Tuesday, Zelensky is due to speak with members of Congress and return to the White House for a meeting with Biden.
The president’s $110.5 billion supplemental aid package — which includes funds to help Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and to fortify the U.S.-Mexico border — appears unlikely to pass before Congress departs Washington for the holidays. Lawmakers have haggled for weeks over politically fraught proposals to overhaul the American asylum system and other immigration policy changes that many Republicans want in exchange for additional Ukraine funding.
The United States has provided Ukraine with more than $44 billion in security assistance since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Zelensky was introduced on Monday by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who in brief remarks only tacitly alluded to the standoff in Congress, saying “America’s word must be kept.”
The United States has lead efforts to equip and train Ukrainian forces, who struggled to break through this summer in a counteroffensive that officials in Washington and Kyiv had hoped would lead to a major breakthrough in the war that is fast approaching the start of its third year.
Throughout his speech, Zelensky invoked the spread of democratic ideals and prosperity that followed the Berlin Wall’s collapse, cautioning that, since then, “freedom’s enemies got stronger.” And as he’s done in past speeches to the American public, the Ukrainian leader sought to position his country as a bulwark against Putin’s expansionist desires.
“You can count on Ukraine. And we hope just as much to be able to count on you,” he said.