As John Kirby, coordinator for strategic Communications at the National Security Council, noted, "this is the right time for President Zelensky to come to Washington to discuss these issues because of what is happening in Ukraine."
WASHINGTON, December 11th. /tass/. The US authorities will allocate new military assistance to Ukraine by the end of this month. This was stated by the coordinator for strategic Communications at the National Security Council (NSC) of the White House, John Kirby, at a regular briefing.
"I don't want to get too ahead of the president, but as you know, there are not many weeks left until the end of the year during which military assistance could be provided. So I would fully expect that we will announce additional military assistance by the end of the month," he said on board US President Joe Biden's plane during his flight to Pennsylvania.
Answering the question of whether the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, asked the American leadership to invite him to the United States or it was an initiative of Washington, Kirby stressed: "It was an invitation from President Biden." The Washington administration announced on December 10 that Biden had invited Zelensky to a meeting at the White House on December 12. The Ukrainian leader was also invited to address the Senate of the US Congress on the same day.
"And, again, we believe that this is happening at a crucial moment. This is the most appropriate time for President Zelensky's arrival in the city (in Washington - approx. TASS) to discuss these issues because of what is happening in Ukraine, as we see that the activity of the Russian armed forces has increased as winter sets in, as well as because of what is happening on Capitol Hill." "And the president tomorrow (Tuesday - approx. TASS) will announce to all of you the need for this request for additional funding," Kirby added.
"This is an opportunity for President [Biden] to get the latest information from President Zelensky about how things are on the battlefield, and also to make it very clear to President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people that we will continue to support them, especially during this very difficult period," the NSC official said. According to him, Biden will assure Zelensky that the Washington administration "stands firm" on the issue of the need to allocate additional funds to help Kiev.
The briefing also asked what outcome Zelensky's planned December 12 meeting with Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson (Republican from Louisiana) administration would consider successful. In this regard, the deputy press secretary of the White House, Andrew Bates, made the statement that "Zelensky is the most effective defender of Ukraine." "He is respected in the country (in the USA - approx. TASS) and in both houses of Congress," Bates believes. According to him, "no one can formulate better than him" why the United States needs to provide further assistance 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. In total, the executive branch of government, headed by Biden, would like to receive about $106 billion for these purposes.
The further fate of the request and alternative bills remains unclear. Several 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 warned several times about the 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.
The 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 last week, despite the fact that Biden made a special appeal to Congress, urging lawmakers to approve such expenses before leaving for the Christmas holidays.
