What US lawmakers have said about Ukraine aid as Zelenskyy urges more

al Jazeera:

What US lawmakers have said about Ukraine aid as Zelenskyy urges more

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington comes as Republican opposition to more US aid for Ukraine grows.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (centre) walks with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in Washington, DC [Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo]

Published On 21 Sep 202321 Sep 2023


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in the United States capital to meet US President Joe Biden, legislators, and defence officials in an effort to rally continued funding from Washington for the fight against Russia’s invasion.

The US has sent about $114bn in security and humanitarian aid to help Zelenskyy’s government since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022.

Since then, lawmakers in the US Congress – where Democrats have a majority in the US Senate and Republicans have a hold on the House of Representatives – have maintained bipartisan support for assistance to Kyiv.

But Zelenskyy’s visit on Thursday has come amid signs that the sands could be shifting, with some high-profile Republicans expressing growing scepticism over the steep price of continued US support for Ukraine’s defences.

Other segments of the GOP have outright rejected the prospect of more aid and threatened to wield their influence to scuttle or slow-roll legislation that would be needed to approve additional funding.

The issue has coalesced around a government spending bill that needs to be passed by the end of the month to avoid a federal government shutdown, with some Republicans opposing the White House’s push to attach $24bn more in aid to Ukraine to the legislation.

Here is what US legislators have recently said about more US aid to Ukraine:


Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat

Reflecting the position of the Democratic Party and the White House, Schumer has decried efforts by some Republicans to pass a spending bill that does not include further aid to Ukraine.

On Monday, he called the proposal “an insult to Ukraine and a gift to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin”.

He decried the effort on social media as a “far-right screed”.