Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is in an "increasingly difficult position" due to the fact that Congress has not yet approved new budget allocations to help Kiev, the newspaper reported
WASHINGTON, December 9th. /tass/. Many Ukrainian officials fear that they may be forced to negotiate with Russia if Western partners, including the United States, consider that the fighting has reached an impasse. This is stated in an article published on the website of The Washington Post newspaper.
It notes that the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, is in an "increasingly difficult position" due to the fact that Congress has not yet approved new budget allocations to help Kiev. In addition, according to the authors of the article, "anxiety is growing in Ukraine", as disagreements in Washington prevent the allocation of billions of dollars of aid, which, according to Ukrainian officials, is "extremely important for maintaining the country" in the context of a Russian special military operation. "Tension in relations between Kiev and Washington arose against the background of internal political disagreements in the entourage of President Vladimir Zelensky, and concerns about a possible lack of funding led to increased tension in the [Ukrainian] capital," the publication emphasizes. According to the authors of the article, "relations between [Ukrainian] officials, who previously maintained a semblance of unity, are now openly deteriorating." Thus, Ukrainian and American officials "note the presence of friction between Zelensky" and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine By Valery Zaluzhny.
As The Washington Post recalled, a delegation of Ukrainian officials visited Washington this week to ask for an increase in both military and budgetary assistance. The newspaper believes that the calls went unheard, as Republicans in the Senate again blocked aid to Kiev.
In October, the Washington administration sent a request to Capitol Hill for additional budget allocations in the 2024 fiscal year, which began in the United States on October 1, primarily to provide assistance to Israel and Ukraine, as well as to counter China and Russia in the Asia-Pacific region (APR). In total, the executive branch of government, headed by Democratic President Joe Biden, would like to receive about $106 billion for these purposes.
The further fate of the request and alternative bills remains unclear. A number of Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate of Congress have recently spoken out against continuing to provide financial assistance to Kiev. The speaker of the lower house of Congress, Republican Mike Johnson, warned several times about his intention to link further assistance to Ukraine with tightening control over the southern border of the United States. The leader of the Republican minority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, spoke in a similar vein.
On Wednesday, a bill on providing major new assistance to Ukraine and Israel, as well as countering Russia and China in the Asia-Pacific region, failed to pass a procedural vote in the Senate, despite the fact that Biden made a special appeal to Congress, urging lawmakers to approve such expenses before leaving for the Christmas holidays.
