United States: As the Russian invasion entered its third year and the United States assistance hangs in the balance, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will arrive at Capitol Hill in a harsher mood than when he flew in last winter for a hero’s welcome.
Unraveling Political Intricacies
Zelenskyy’s visit comes as President Joe Biden’s proposal for an extra US$110 billion in US aid for Ukraine, Israel, and other national security requirements faces a critical vote in Congress. In exchange for the foreign help, Republicans are pressing on challenging border security improvements between the United States and Mexico, which Democrats call draconian.
“It is maddening,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a close ally of Biden, of the stalemate. “A terrible message to the world, to the Ukrainian people.”
The White House said Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington was appropriate, given Biden’s urge for legislators to approve the assistance package before the end-of-year festivities. On the eve of his arrival, however, the mood in the Capitol darkened.
Zelenskyy will meet privately with senators and incoming House Speaker Mike Johnson before meeting with Biden at the White House as strong bipartisan support for Ukraine fades.
The White House, late Monday, referred to freshly released intelligence that revealed Ukraine inflicted substantial losses on Russia in recent fighting along the Avdiivka-Novopavlivka axis, including 13,000 deaths and over 220 combat vehicle losses, ahead of Zelenskyy’s high-stakes discussions. The Ukrainian stronghold in the country’s partially occupied east has seen some of the most brutal combat in recent weeks.

According to US intelligence officials, the Russians believe that if they can achieve a military stalemate through the winter, it will drain Western support for Ukraine and ultimately give Russia the advantage, even though the Russians have suffered heavy losses and are hampered by persistent shortages of trained personnel, munitions, and equipment.
A Diplomatic Gambit
“Russia is determined to press forward with its offensive despite its losses. It is more critical now than ever that we maintain our support for Ukraine so they can continue to hold the line and regain their territory,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson. She added that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is watching what happens in Congress — and we need Congress to act this month to support Ukraine in its time of need.”
Republicans in Congress, driven by Johnson’s far-right House wing, have taken a more isolationist attitude in US foreign policy, seeking reforms to American border and immigration laws in exchange for any assistance to fight Putin’s conflict in Ukraine.
Biden has signalled a readiness to work with Republicans as migrant crossings along the US-Mexico border have reached record highs. Still, Democrats in his party see the suggestions for accelerated deportations and rigorous asylum rules as a return to Trump-era animosity toward migrants.
With discussions deadlocked, one critical Republican negotiator, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, claimed Zelenskyy could say nothing to influence the result during his visit to the senators.
“Hey, pay attention to us, but not your own country? No,” Lankford told reporters, adding, “We’ve got to be able to deal with all these things together.”
Zelenskyy, who was in Washington just a few months ago in September when the assistance package was being discussed, is making his third trip to the Capitol since the conflict began in February 2022.

Zelenskyy’s surprising appearance days before Christmas last December was his first wartime travel out of Ukraine, and he was greeted with loud acclaim in Congress. Lawmakers wore Ukraine’s blue-and-yellow colors.
Ukraine’s President further thanked Americans for their support in a speech that drew comparisons to World War II and gave the country’s flag signed by frontline troops to then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
However, 2023 introduced a new power center of hard-right Republicans, many of whom were connected with Donald Trump, the former President who is now the GOP front-runner in the 2024 presidential election, according to the report by the Associated Press.
New Speaker Johnson, who started his office in October after Republicans removed their former leader, Kevin McCarthy, has publicly supported aid to Ukraine, as Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. But it’s unclear if they can push an assistance package through the House’s right flank.
The head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, said Zelenskyy has an opportunity to stress to Johnson in their private meeting “the moral clarity and why Ukraine is important.”
He said that Zelenskyy may break the impasse in Congress by telling Johnson and the senators that “if we abandon our NATO allies and Ukraine, as we did in Afghanistan, we’re just inviting more aggression and emboldening and empowering our adversaries.”
On Monday, Zelenskyy began his brief tour to Washington by saying in a lecture at a defense university that although Russia is battling in Ukraine, its “real target is freedom” in America and across the world.
“If unresolved issues on Capitol Hill inspire anyone, it’s Putin and his sick clique,” Zelenskyy told a crowd of military officers and students on Monday at the National Defense University.
A Historical Reflection
He mentioned that on this day, 82 years ago, the United States went to war in Europe when the President of that time, Franklin D Roosevelt, signed the declaration of war against Germany. Now, he said, the fact that the US has no ground soldiers in Ukraine is supplying essential needed weaponry and equipment.
The new US$110 billion national security package includes US$61.4 billion for Ukraine, with roughly half, or US$30 billion, going to the Defense Department to replenish weaponry already supplied to Ukraine and the other half going to humanitarian aid and assisting the Ukrainian government with emergency responders, public works, and other operations.
The package included funds for national security needs in the Asia-Pacific region, US$14 billion for US border security, and an additional US$14 billion for Israel’s war against Hamas, according to the report by the Associated Press.
The Republicans said the Democrats didn’t respond to their latest offer. However, according to an anonymous person familiar with their discussions, the White House has been more engaged with Congress with Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security.
Border security discussions have centered on making it more difficult for migrants to seek asylum and letting fewer migrants temporarily into the United States as they await processes to decide if they may remain more permanently.
Republicans have also advocated permitting the President to close sections of the border when crossings spike, as they have done over the previous two years. One White House proposal would increase the capacity to undertake accelerated deportations, which has alarmed immigration groups.
As border discussions stall, Biden’s budget director stated last week that the United States would run out of funds to deliver weapons and help to Ukraine by the end of the year, effectively “kneecap” Ukraine on the battlefield.
According to the Defense Department, around US$4.8 billion is available in presidential drawdown authority, which draws weapons from current United States stockpiles and deploys them immediately to the front lines, with approximately US$1.1 billion remaining in funds to rebuild US military stocks.