WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden warned prime congressional leaders Tuesday (Feb 27) of the dire value of failing to help Ukraine, as high-stakes talks on the White Home ended with out a deal.
Biden referred to as the uncommon Oval Workplace assembly to influence Republican Home speaker Mike Johnson to unblock important assist for Kyiv and keep away from a authorities shutdown at house.
The leaders mentioned they had been optimistic they may preserve the federal government’s lights on – however on Ukraine, they remained deadlocked, with Johnson insisting on the necessity for extra border reforms first.
“On Ukraine, I feel the necessity is pressing,” mentioned Biden, who was flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris for the assembly in entrance of a crackling hearth within the historic workplace.
He added that the “consequence of inaction every single day in Ukraine is dire.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Ukraine desperately needs more Western support to defeat Russia’s invasion and voiced hope the US would approve the stalled package deal that features US$60 billion of weapons and different assist.
However Johnson, a Donald Trump ally who leads a razor-thin Republican majority within the Home of Representatives, has refused to even enable a vote on a so-called supplemental funding invoice containing the Ukraine assist.
Johnson, who additionally held a one-on-one assembly with Biden, insisted the disaster on the Mexican border was his precedence.
He mentioned the Home would take care of the supplemental invoice “in a well timed method, however once more the primary precedence of the nation is our border and ensuring it is safe”.