On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suddenly canceled his scheduled participation via video in a session with members of the US Senate, where arduous negotiations are taking place over a new aid package of great importance to Kiev.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement to reporters, "Zelensky cannot participate in the briefing with us. Something happened at the last minute.”
Washington is the country that has provided most of the countries with military aid to Kiev, amounting to tens of billions of dollars since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
But Democratic President Joe Biden’s pledge to continue supporting Ukraine financially has become threatened, and this is what Kiev fears, whose counterattack did not achieve the desired gains.
Congress is scheduled to hold a procedural vote today, Wednesday, on a military, humanitarian and economic aid package for Kiev, with the measure expected to fail unless a major surprise occurs.
“Lack of Resources”
The US Congress, which has so far approved granting Kiev massive military, humanitarian and economic aid, consists of two chambers.
In the House of Representatives, which is dominated by conservatives, a number of right-wing representatives are demanding an immediate cessation of aid to Kiev.
In the Senate, where the Democrats have a majority, the Republican opposition, in return, supports supporting Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials stress their need for more weapons to prevent Russian strikes from depriving millions of people of electricity this winter, as happened last year.
The White House warned on Monday that military aid provided by the United States to Ukraine may decline sharply in the coming weeks, in light of the failure to reach a financing agreement with the Republican opposition.
“If Congress does not act by the end of the year, we will run out of resources to deliver more weapons and equipment to Ukraine,” said Shalanda Yang, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
