President Joe Biden begged Republicans on Wednesday to provide Ukraine with more military support, announcing that a Russian victory over Ukraine would put Moscow in a position to attack NATO members and might lead to the involvement of American forces in a conflict.
As Biden was speaking, the US was about to announce a $175 million increase in aid for Ukraine from its diminishing reserves for Kyiv. In an attempt to win over Republicans, he indicated that he would be open to making considerable adjustments to American immigration policy near the Mexican border.
“If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there,” Biden stated. “We’ll have something that we don’t seek and that we don’t have today: American troops fighting Russian troops,” Biden said, predicting that Putin would attack a NATO ally.
He declared, “We can’t let Putin win.”
But later on Wednesday, Senate Republicans, citing their desire to emphasize the significance of stricter border policies, blocked Democratic-backed legislation that would have given billions of dollars in additional security assistance for Israel and Ukraine, among other international concerns.
This week, the White House issued a warning, stating that time and resources to assist Ukraine in fending off Russia’s invasion are running short.
In a phone interview with Reuters regarding the development of Ukraine’s defense industrial base, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan stated that the United States was remaining true to its long-standing stance of not pressuring Ukraine into entering into talks with Russia.
“They will have to make that decision. To try to get this money, we’re just going to keep fighting day in and day out,” Sullivan declared.
“We’re going to keep making the case that it would be a historic mistake for the United States to walk away from Ukraine at this moment and we believe that argument will ultimately penetrate and prevail,” he stated.
As for Biden, he stated that he is ready for “reasonable, responsible discussions to produce a bipartisan outcome on border policy and border sources.”
U.S. budget director Shalanda Young stated this week that by mid-November, the State Department had spent all $4.7 billion of authorized funding for military assistance, while the Defense Department had utilized 97% of the $62.3 billion in supplemental funding that it had been given.
According to a U.S. official, Washington’s “replenishment authority” is less than $1 billion. This implies that the United States, Ukraine, and armament manufacturers may need to take additional measures to backfill stocks if Congress does not approve new funding to purchase replacement equipment.
A significant concern that is weighing on the talks regarding funding for Israel and Ukraine is border security with Mexico.
Republicans in the House and Senate are supporting the resumption of construction of a border wall, which was once President Donald Trump’s top priority. At the same time, they are declaring a significant number of migrants ineligible for asylum and are bringing back a contentious policy that requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico until their immigration case is resolved.
On the border dispute, Biden stated he was prepared to make “significant” concessions, but he also stated that Republicans would not get their way. He did not elaborate.
He declared, “This needs to be negotiated.”
Following a virtual summit with G7 leaders earlier on Wednesday, Biden stated that the United States and its allies are ready to support Ukraine in its ongoing 22-month war to fend off Russian invasion.
“Extreme Republicans are playing chicken with our national security, holding Ukraine’s funding hostage to an extreme partisan border policy,” Biden stated.
