Ukraine: Ukrainian President, Mr. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has cancelled a major briefing with US lawmakers due to a standoff over future US funding for the country.
The virtual appearances in the Senate and House on Tuesday were cancelled at the last moment. It happened after a senior Ukrainian official issued a warning that if more US military aid is not authorised, they risk losing the war with Russia.
The leader of the Senate, Mr. Chuck Schumer, did not explain Mr. Zelenskyy’s absence.
Without giving more information, the top Democrat in the chamber claimed that the president of Ukraine was preoccupied with a “last-minute” issue.
Mr. Andriy Yermak, Mr. Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, warned earlier on Tuesday that without ongoing US support, there was a “big risk” of Ukrainian defeat.
“It will be challenging to maintain [the] same roles and for the people to truly survive,” Mr. Yermak continued during a speech given in Washington, DC, at the US Institute of Peace.
Just a few hours before Mr. Zelenskyy abruptly cancelled a planned video conference with US senators to brief them on the war effort, Mr. Yermak delivered his dire assessment.
The US Congress has authorised over $110 billion in military and economic assistance to Ukraine since the conflict started in February 2022. But the majority of that money has already been disbursed, as the Biden administration has been warning for months.
According to Mr. Frederick Kagan, director of the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project and a former professor at the US Military Academy, the funding delays are already having very real consequences on the Ukrainian battlefield. There are plans to reduce the current counteroffensive against Russia, and it is unclear whether more operations to retake lost ground will take place.
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