Zelensky to Address U.S. Senators Before Vote on Ukraine Aid
President Volodymyr Zelensky will make a direct appeal to U.S. senators on Tuesday to urge lawmakers to quickly approve emergency military aid for Ukraine.
Zelensky's Appeal to U.S. Senators
President Volodymyr Zelensky will make a direct appeal to U.S. senators on Tuesday aimed at reminding lawmakers ahead of a key vote what is at stake if they fail to quickly approve emergency military aid for his nation.
Republican support for funding Ukraine’s war effort is waning and an emergency funding package is stalled in Congress. With the Democratic-led Senate set to vote on Wednesday whether to approve more than $61 billion in Ukraine-focused assistance as part of a $106 billion national security package, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said had invited Mr. Zelensky to brief lawmakers.
In a confidential video call on Tuesday, the Ukrainian leader is expected to give senators updates on the state of the fighting and stress the urgency of maintaining American financial and military backing.
Stakes for America's National Security
“America’s national security is on the line,” Mr. Schumer said from the Senate floor on Monday evening.
“If Ukraine falls, Putin will keep on going,” he added. “Autocrats around the world will be emboldened. Democracy, this grand and noble experiment, will enter an era of decline.”
Mr. Zelensky’s address to senators — a day after the White House warned that the United States would soon run out of money to send weapons to his country — comes at perhaps the most uncertain moment for Ukraine since the first chaotic months of the war.
Urgent Need for Aid
Ukraine urgently needs more ammunition and other weapons to try to turn the tide on the battlefield. The country’s counteroffensive against entrenched Russian forces in southern Ukraine has so far failed to meet its objectives, and Moscow’s forces have been going on the offensive in the east.
Mr. Zelensky has acknowledged the breadth of challenges facing Ukraine nearly two years into a war — from its struggles to advance on the battlefield to the need to improve recruitment and training of soldiers as losses mount.
Domestic politics in Ukraine has started to reassert itself, with local media fixated on any potential signs of division between Mr. Zelensky’s government and military leadership. But U.S. politics has also taken a front seat as a growing faction of Republicans have voiced concerns about providing Mr. Zelensky’s government with more financial support.
