Biden warns Ukraine aid failure would embolden Putin: Recap

Biden and Zelensky’s joint press conference was a show of solidary between the two leaders, while they lobby Republicans to pass more aid to Ukraine.

Biden warned against the U.S. not further supporting Ukraine, highlighting that it would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he suggested that only a small group of Republicans are in opposition. The president also said he is hopeful but not promising there will be more aid.

Additionally, Biden touted the successes of the Ukrainian military pushing back the Russian military, the courage of the Ukrainians, and how proud he is that NATO is unified.

Zelensky, when asked if he is hoping for a direct invitation to join the NATO alliance, said Ukraine is “allies but we are not members, members of NATO” and punted the question to Biden. Biden said there is “no question” that NATO will be in Ukraine’s future.

Additonally, Zelensky expressed his gratitude for Biden’s support and called his meetings on Capitol Hill, in the Senate and with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), “very productive.”

– Alex Gangitano

Zelensky bristled at the suggestion that Ukraine might cede some of its territory to Russia if it meant bringing an end to the war during Tuesday’s press conference.

“That’s insane, to be honest,” Zelensky said through an interpreter.

“That’s part of Ukrainian society. We are talking about human beings. They are being tortured, they are being raped, and they are being killed,” he continued.

“That’s not a matter of territory. That’s a matter of life, of families, of children, of their histories,” Zelensky continued. “I don’t know whose idea it is, but I have a question to these people, if they are ready to give up their children to territories. I think no.”

— Brett Samuels

Biden said he believes there is “strong bipartisan political support” for Ukraine, downplaying the number of Republicans who have opposed more funding for the Ukrainian war effort.

The president said there are a “small number of Republicans who don’t want to support Ukraine, but they don’t speak for the majority of even Republicans in my view.”

“We’re in negotiations to get funding we need,” he added. “Not making promises but hopeful we can get there. I think we can.”

— Brett Samuels

Biden in his opening remarks warned a failure by the United States to stand with Ukraine would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin and cause greater global harm.

“Putin is banking on the United States failing to deliver for Ukraine,” Biden said. “We must, we must, we must prove him wrong.”

Biden called it “stunning” that it has gotten to the eleventh hour for Congress to pass additional Ukraine aid, and he warned history would “remember harshly” those who oppose funding for the Ukrainian war effort.

“If we don’t stop Putin it will endanger the freedom of everyone almost everywhere. Putin will keep going,” Biden said.

“Ukraine’s success and it’s ability to deter aggression in the future are vital to security for the world at large,” he added.

— Brett Samuels

National security adviser Jake Sullivan and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will head to the Middle East this week to meet with Israeli officials amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas, Biden said.

Sullivan will meet with members of the Israeli wartime Cabinet to emphasize the administration’s commitment to Israel, as well as the need to protect civilian life, Biden said.

Austin will also stress the need to ensure the free flow of commerce while in the region.

“The entire world is watching what we do so let’s show them who we are,” Biden said.

— Brett Samuels

Russia has lost more than 13,000 soldiers in Ukraine since beginning an October offensive push in the eastern region of the country, according to declassified U.S. intelligence.

Russian forces have also lost 220 combat vehicles in addition to the more than 13,000 soldiers on the Avdiivka-Novopavlivka axis in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, the White House National Security Council said in the declassified assessment Tuesday.

In military terminology, a loss refers to fighters killed, missing or too wounded to return to the battlefield.

— Brad Dress

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) told reporters Tuesday that it will be “practically impossible” to pass legislation providing more military aid to Ukraine before Christmas and urged President Biden to get more involved in the stalled negotiations.  

“All I have said is [it’s] practically impossible, even though we reach an agreement, to craft it, get it through the Senate, get it through the House before Christmas,” McConnell said. “Doesn’t mean it’s not important.” 

Read the full story here.

— Alex Bolton

Biden told Zelensky that he shouldn’t give up hope about the U.S support for Ukraine amid its war with Russia.

“I don’t want you giving up hope,” Biden told Zelensky at the top of their meeting in the Oval Office. “We’re going to stay at your side.”

The president also used the meeting to call on Congress to provide more aid to Ukraine and warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin was planning to bombard Ukraine’s electrical grid this winter.

“We mustn’t let him succeed,” he said. Zelensky responded that “Ukraine can win” and thanked the U.S. and allies for support.

– Alex Gangitano

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at the White House from Capitol Hill where he is scheduled to meet with President Biden.

Republican voters have been slowly souring on support for Ukraine nearly two years into its war against Russia.

While most GOP lawmakers say they still support Ukraine, the path for additional funding has become mired in border politics.

The Hill explored the shift in Republican sentiment as part of its “World at War” series last month.

“Biden is seen as incompetent and corrupt. So unfortunately, the way politics works, it’s guilt by association,” James Cohen, a longtime Republican voter from Virginia Beach, told The Hill.

“Where they stand on funding, whether it’s Ukraine or anything else, it’s very polarized.”

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he adamantly supports a deal to send additional aid to Ukraine, but only if Democrats can agree on border security measures.

Negotiations have slowed in recent days, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Tuesday with McConnell and other senators to advocate for his country to get continued aid.

“I’ve been a staunch supporter of Ukraine’s fight to take back its land, liberate its people and restore its support, restore its sovereignty since the beginning of Russia’s invasion way back in 2014,” McConnell said in a floor speech. “Our Ukrainian friends’ cause is just, and if the West continues to stand with them, they can win.”

But McConnell said that staunch support requires action on other fronts as well.

“We know the threats we face are intertwined — that Russia and China and North Korea work together to undermine America and the West. We know that our border, just like Ukraine’s borders and Israel’s and Taiwan’s, must be inviolable,” he continued. “That’s why, for months now, we’ve supported supplemental action on all four of the most pressing national security challenges we face.”

“My support for Ukraine and Israel is rock solid,” he added. “I’m committed to preparing the US military to deter and defend against Chinese aggression. I’m determined to get the national security crisis at the southern border under control, and I’m going to work to get it done as long as it takes.”

– Nick Robertson

The head of the House Democratic Caucus took a swipe at Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday over the Republicans’ decision not to stage a meeting between the full House and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his Capitol visit.

“We just thank him for coming out, and [having] the courage to come here. Unfortunately, House Republicans didn’t extend that offer to meet like the Senate did — to meet with all members,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.) told reporters during a press briefing in the Capitol.

“It would have been nice if Speaker Johnson conveyed that, but he didn’t.”

Read full story here.

— Mike Lillis

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) reiterated after his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday that any aid for Kyiv must be coupled with border security.

The statement comes even as a bipartisan group in the Senate has struggled to come to a consensus on border security, a reality that is preventing the U.S. from sending aid to Ukraine despite pleas from Zelensky and the White House.

Johnson also called on the White House to provide a “strategy to allow Ukraine to win” the war against Russia. He said the administration’s answers thus far “have been insufficient” and lack “clarity and detail.”

“So I’ve made this very clear, again, from the very beginning, when I was handed the gavel, we needed clarity on what we’re doing in Ukraine and how we’ll have proper oversight of the spending of precious taxpayer dollars of the American citizens, and we needed a transformative change at the border,” Johnson told reporters following his meeting with Zelensky.

He noted that the House earlier this year passed H.R. 2, the GOP conference’s marquee border bill that is a non-starter for Democrats.

“These are our conditions because these are the conditions of the American people,” Johnson said of border security. “And we are resolute on that. It is not the House’s issue right now, the issue is with the White Huse and the Senate, and I implore them to do their job because the time is urgent and we do want to do the right thing.”

Johnson, however, said he told Zelensky that the U.S. stands with Kyiv in its battle against Moscow.

“Just had a good meeting with President Zelensky, I reiterated to him that we stand with him and against Putin’s brutal invasion. The American people stand for freedom, and they’re on the right side of this fight.”

— Mychael Schnell

A top Ukrainian official held out hope for a U.S. aid deal for the country, noting that it would not be a “tragedy” if negotiations in the Senate passed after Christmas.

“If it happens so that we receive a gift before Christmas, we will be happy with that,” war cabinet official Oleksiy Danilov told BBC News. “But if it will happen a bit later, then it shouldn’t be made into a tragedy.”

While some members have said that a pre-holiday deal is still possible, there is increasing doubt that Democrats and Republicans can agree on border security policy, which Republicans demand be passed before Ukraine aid is considered.

He declined to ponder the fate of Ukraine if American aid for the country stops.

“Will Putin destroy us before humanity’s eyes? Will he be killing our children, our women, our elderly men? And will the whole world watch with their eyes closed?” he said. “Then the question should be, in what world do we live?”

– Nick Robertson

Zelensky is slated to appear on Fox News during its 6 p.m. hour on “Special Report” with anchor Bret Baier.

The scheduled interview comes as Zelensky is in Washington, D.C., lobbying lawmakers to send more funding to Ukraine and just weeks after the president met with Lachlan Murdoch, the CEO of Fox Corp., during a recent trip to Europe.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) appeared unmoved Tuesday after Zelensky’s meeting with senators.

“It is striking to me that we’re in this place in this last week here and we’re hearing from the president of Ukraine again but we’ve yet to hear from our own president about the border, our border,” Schmitt said.

“The Democrats are not interested in engaging on this in any meaningful way, and the issue’s not going away.”

He added, “nothing changes. The fact that he’s here, it’s the same old stuff; there’s nothing new that came out of that.”

I just think if you listen to the people back home, they’re not interested in a blank check for Ukraine when they see 12,000 people coming across our open southern border,” he said.

— Al Weaver

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a “friendly and candid conversation” with members of the Senate on Tuesday.

“In the United States Senate, I had a friendly and candid conversation,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. “I informed members of the U.S. Senate about Ukraine’s current military and economic situation, the significance of sustaining vital U.S. support, and answered their questions.”

The Senate is in the middle of tense negotiations over a border security deal that would pave the way for the approval of billions in foreign aid for Ukraine.

He was accompanied to the meeting by Senate leaders Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who have both advocated for more Ukraine aid.

“I am grateful to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for their personal leadership in rallying bipartisan support for Ukraine among U.S. legislators,” Zelensky said.

– Nick Robertson

Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) tied aid to Ukraine to U.S. national security in a statement issued after she and other House Democratic leaders met Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“House Democrats know that the clock is ticking — and that our national security is directly tied to the fight of the Ukrainian people. But since President Zelenskyy’s last visit, the House Republican Majority has caved to their Pro-Putin Caucus and refused to vote on President Biden’s urgent request for funding to support our ally,” she said in a statement.

“We owe it to the children of Ukraine — and to our own children — to stay in this fight.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said that it’s still possible to get a foreign and and border security deal complete by Christmas, pledging his support amid tense negotiations.

“I will stay here as long as it’s necessary to get to get this done,” Murphy told The New York Times. “I think we can finish this in the Senate and get a bill to the House before Christmas.”

He said Democrats have “stretched” their offer to Republicans on border security and have included policies in negotiations “that are outside of the Democratic comfort zone.”

Republicans have demanded a border security bill before they would pass a foreign aid package, which includes billions for Ukraine.

– Nick Robertson

After wrapping up his meeting with senators, Zelensky spoke with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

Zelensky is slated next to meet with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday accused Democrats of “using President Zelensky inappropriately.”

“I said ‘you’ve been sort of used here.’ … I like him and I admire him. I said ‘you’ve done everything anybody could ask of you. This is not your problem here. You didn’t make this problem. It will affect you and affect the whole world, but policy choices matter,” Graham said.

— Al Weaver

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Tuesday he had little confidence in Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) to help broker a deal on the border that would unlock aid to Ukraine — and that President Biden needs to step in.

“Sen. Murphy has been very unhelpful. His attitude about what’s going on is off base. We’re not holding the border hostage; we’re trying to protect the American people,” Graham said.

“The key is to get the commander in chief involved in the negotiations. Sen. Murphy — I have no confidence he’s ever going to get a deal we can live with because he’s worried about selling it to the left. The commander in chief, if there’s a deal to be made, is going to have to get involved in the negotiations.”

— Al Weaver

The U.S. will sanction 250 entities and people in Russia related to its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the State Department announced Tuesday.

The department will sanction more than “100 entities and individuals, including those engaged in sanctions evasion, furthering Russia’s ability to wage its war against Ukraine, and bolstering Russia’s future energy production and export capacity. As part of this action, we are also designating entities involved in the proliferation of military equipment and munitions from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to Russia,” according to a news release issued as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is on Capitol Hill pushing for more aid.

The Treasury Department will concurrently sanction more than 150 individuals and entities, “including multiple networks used by Russia to circumvent sanctions, numerous third-country suppliers to Russia’s military-industrial base, and additional Russian financial institutions.”

Unidentified hackers shut down Ukraine’s largest telecom providers Tuesday, knocking out phone and internet service for millions of people as President Volodymyr Zelensky requests additional aid in Washington.

Telecom provider Kyivstar said a “powerful” cyberattack impacted its 24-million strong customer base, with no estimate on when services would be restored.

“The war with Russia has many dimensions, and one of them is in cyberspace,” Kyivstar Director-General Oleksandr Komarov said in a statement, The Associated Press reported.

A major Ukrainian bank also said it fended off a significant cyberattack Tuesday, while Ukrainian intelligence said it conducted its own successful attack on Russian tax infrastructure.

Moscow made no immediate comment about any attack, and the claim could not be independently verified.

Meanwhile, Ukraine was peppered by nearly 600 Russian shells, rockets and other projectiles in southern regions as the stalemate conflict drags on with little progress for either side.

– Nick Robertson

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), in remarks after meeting with Zelensky, said the Ukrainian leader’s remarks were “very powerful.”

Zelensky “made it so clear how he needs help, but if he gets help, he can win this war,” Schumer said. “And he outlined in great detail the kind of help he needs and how it will help him win.”

Schumer said Zelensky “made clear, and we all made clear, that if we lose Putin wins, and this will be very, very dangerous for the United States.”

“He also made one other point. He needs the aid quickly,” Schumer said.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan made clear the high stakes of aid for Ukraine, saying Monday that the fate of a negotiation over billions in funding the country could put all of Europe at risk.

“I do not think it’s hyperbole to say that basically the security of Europe is at stake, and therefore the risk of American men and women having to go deal with another massive war in Europe, as we have before, if we don’t work with Ukraine to stop Russia in Ukraine,” Sullivan said at a Washington event hosted by The New Republic on Monday. “That’s at stake.”

“Look, the arithmetic here is simple,” he continued. “We have now, as of the end of December, used up all of the funding that Congress has given us to supply weapons to Ukraine, and then to replenish our stocks with the weapons that we’ve handed over.”

He said the U.S. can no longer provide Ukraine with weapons, vehicles, aircraft and ammunition if funding is not passed as soon as possible.

“And as weeks go by, that will have a material effect on Ukraine’s battlefield position,” he said.

Ukraine’s late summer counteroffensive stalled after little progress this fall, and a Russian offensive also made little progress as the war has devolved into a stalemate as winter sets in.

Sullivan added that aid for Ukraine is bigger than just backing an ally against Russia — it also speaks to core American values.

“I believe the American people still want to see the United States standing for the basic proposition that a free people deserves to be free, and we should help them be able to achieve that,” he said. “And if we don’t, I really think it undermines the very idea of who we are as a country. And there isn’t really a greater stake than that.”

– Nick Robertson

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) urged his colleagues to back Ukraine and heed President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for aid.

“Always an honor to hear from President Zelenskyy. I hope my colleagues take his words today to heart. Time is running out—we must pass the President’s national security funding package and continue to aid Ukraine’s defense of freedom,” he said on X, formerly Twitter, after Zelensky addressed senators.

Zelensky has left the meeting with senators without addressing reporters.

He is still set to meet with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and President Biden later today.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) went after President Biden over slow negotiations for a border security deal which Republicans have demanded before they accept foreign aid funding for Ukraine.

“Joe Biden seems to care more about the borders of other countries than America’s,” Cotton said. “Republicans care about both, but Democrats’ refusal to address the crisis at our southern border is preventing any funding for our allies from passing Congress.”

In a Fox News interview Monday, Cotton said the immigration problems are driven “primarily” by Biden administration “abuses” of asylum and parole policies.

“If we can address asylum and parole, that’s the key to passing legislation that will not only help secure our own border, but help our allies protect themselves as well,” he said.

– Nick Robertson

Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that he will send the House home for the holidays soon if Democrats can’t agree on a border security deal.

“I don’t know what else to do. I’m not going to have everybody sit here through Christmas twiddling their thumbs,” he told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday.

Republicans have held up a foreign aid request, including Ukraine funding, until a border deal is made.

“You know, we’re willing to work,” he said. “The House members will work. We’ve shown that over and over and over, but we’re not getting any cooperation from the White House and the Senate Democrats at all.”

– Nick Robertson