WASHINGTON, Dec – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to make a last-ditch plea to keep military support flowing as he battles Russia, but faced a skeptical reception from some Republicans.
Republicans have been reluctant to sign off on a funding request from Democratic President Joe Biden under which Ukraine would receive $61.4 billion.
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, said after meeting with Zelenskiy that Biden’s administration must provide more detail about how the money would be used.
“What the Biden administration seems to be asking for is billions of additional dollars with no appropriate oversight, no clear strategy to win and with none of the answers that I think the American people are owed,” he said after meeting with Zelenskiy.
Other Republicans questioned whether additional aid would help Ukraine defeat Russia after a summer offensive that has failed to yield clear gains.
“I know everyone wants Ukraine to win, I just don’t see it in the cards,” Republican Senator Ron Johnson said.
Heading into winter, with tens of thousands of Ukrainians dead, a yawning budget deficit and Russian advances in the east, Zelenskiy is asking Washington to provide badly needed support.
Wearing a black shirt and olive drab trousers, Zelenskiy was met with sustained applause as he entered a closed-door meeting with U.S. senators, and the chamber’s Democratic and Republican leaders pledged their support.
