Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to Congress Tuesday to appeal for more aid to resist Russia’s invasion, and Republican leaders told him to first wait for an elusive U.S. deal on immigration.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he told Zelenskyy that Republicans “stand with him and against Putin’s brutal invasion” but won’t send more aid until Democrats accept “a transformative change” in U.S. immigration and border policies.
Republican demands for tough measures to stem a surge in migration across the U.S.-Mexico border have delayed new Ukraine assistance for months.
The Senate Armed Services Committee’s top-ranking Republican, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, said after a private session Zelenskyy held with senators that he would prefer to send the aid this month but congressional approval will likely slip to early January as the border talks continue.
“The house is not on fire,” Wicker said of Ukraine’s need for ammunition and other weaponry.
Zelenskyy said in a post on the social media platform X that he had “a friendly and candid conversation” with senators and informed them about “Ukraine’s current military and economic situation” as well as “the significance of sustaining vital U.S. support.”
Newly declassified intelligence shared with some congressional officials puts Russian losses in the war so far at 315,000 deaths or injuries, a person familiar with the talks said. The Russians have also lost about 63% of their tanks, which had been a fleet of 3,500 before the invasion, and the war has set back efforts to modernize its ground forces by about 15 years, according to the person.
Zelenskyy told senators Ukraine is considering conscripting men over 40 years old to bolster its front line troop levels, Wicker said, a sign his government is struggling to replace killed and wounded soldiers.
Support for Ukraine has been slipping among Republican voters, with 65% of Republicans saying the U.S. is spending “too much” to help Ukraine’s war effort, according to a Financial Times-Michigan Ross poll taken Dec. 5 and 6.
Many Republican lawmakers voiced support for Ukraine and called the meeting with Zelenskyy inspirational. But they demanded changes to U.S. immigration and border policies before approving additional aid.
“There will be no supplemental without border security reform,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he told Zelenskyy.
Democrats are resisting most of the Republican demands, leaving both sides locked in a standoff and delaying military assistance to help Ukraine at a critical moment in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer left the meeting with Zelenskyy calling the session “productive” and “very powerful.”
Democrats involved in Ukraine funding negotiations on the Hill are growing more frustrated that President Joe Biden isn’t more directly engaged, including with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the person familiar with the talks said. Republicans also said Ukraine aid could pass this year if Biden got more involved in the talks and made better offers to them.
There’s a fair amount of uncertainty on what the White House is willing to concede on border security issues to win Republican votes on Ukraine.
Still, Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a close ally of Biden who is a leading negotiator for Democrats in the talks, said the White House is “getting more involved.”
Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said Zelenskyy understood the end-of-year politics at play on Capitol Hill.
“He’s an elected official himself,” Tillis said leaving the meeting. “He understood we have to go through this political process and get border security wrapped up.”
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