Biden scrambles to assure allies he’s still supporting Ukraine after Congress scraps aid

The Biden administration is moving quickly to show foreign allies that it still supports Ukraine after Congress decided to strip aid in a temporary spending bill that was passed on Saturday, according to The Associated Press.

President Joe Biden gathered 20 world leaders from Europe, Canada and Japan via phone call to discuss their loyalty to Ukraine’s war effort after Biden scrambled to sign a temporary bill that was sent to him on Saturday hours before a potential government shutdown, according to the AP. Congress decided against including the Biden administration’s recommended aid to Ukraine in the bill roughly a week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Washington to plead for more funding.

All the leaders on the call vehemently reiterated their pledge to support Ukraine’s war effort against Russia, and no one doubted the Biden administration’s support for Kyiv either, according to the AP. The Biden administration warned that Congress must not delay further funding in the next spending bill that must be agreed upon on Nov. 17.

“Time is not our friend,” said John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House, said on Tuesday. “We need Congress to act to ensure that there is no disruption in our support.”

Congress approved $4.5 billion in foreign aid to Ukraine on Saturday, far less than the $24 billion that the Biden administration had been hoping for. Many House Republicans were upset that any Ukraine funding was included at all in the stop-gap bill, and cast blame on former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted from his position late Tuesday.

Kirby said Tuesday that the current approved funding to Ukraine will last “a couple of months or so.”

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, who was on the call Tuesday, said that Biden remained steadfast in his commitment to Ukraine and was confident the Congress would include his requested aid in the next spending bill, according to the AP.

“Everyone took the floor. The main subject was Ukraine, the situation in Ukraine,” Duda said at a press conference following the call. “President Joe Biden began with telling us about the situation in the U.S. and what is the real political situation around Ukraine. He assured us that there is backing for the continuing support for Ukraine, first of all for the military support. He said that he will get that backing in the Congress.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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