The fate of billions in assistance for Ukraine remains in limbo Monday morning even as President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to make a crucial pitch to senators and House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday.
Zelensky’s visit to Washington – his third since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 – is unlikely to shift a now cemented dynamic in Washington that Republicans, even those that back additional funding for Ukraine, aren’t willing to do more unless Democrats and the White House concede on major policy changes on the US southern border.
It’s a complicated moment for the White House, which has made the case again and again that Zelensky and his country are at a critical inflection point in their fight for Democracy. And yet, President Joe Biden’s administration may not be able to deliver the resources it has promised if a domestic, decades-long fight over immigration doesn’t rapidly yield a breakthrough soon.
Bottom Line: It’s more likely than not that Congress leaves at the end of this week without having passed additional aid, without a breakthrough on border policy and without a clear roadmap of how to ensure the funding passes in the thorny months ahead when a showdown over government spending, an impeachment inquiry and the presidential election are in full swing.
As CNN reported last week, there is just about $2 billion still available in the eyes of the administration the US can send out. There is $4.8 billion left in the presidential drawdown authority, but that funding is used to send existing US stockpiles to Ukraine and the US only has about $1 billion left to replenish those stockpiles. There is then about $1 billion left in intelligence and defense surveillance funds.
Zelensky’s crucial meetings on Capitol Hill with Senators: Senators are well aware of the dynamics on the battlefield, Ukraine’s dire needs and the implications of…
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