National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Ukraine President Vladimir Zelensky The US Congress in Kiev on Wednesday to reaffirm its support for the aid effort in the repeatedly besieged country sunk.
During the meeting, Sullivan “stressed the urgent need for the US House of Representatives to pass a national security supplement to address Ukraine’s critical battlefield needs,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
Sullivan acknowledged the difficulty of passing additional aid to Ukraine at a news conference Wednesday, saying he knew there were “questions here because of the back-and-forth in our Congress and the months that have passed without additional legislation.”
“We’re confident we can do it,” Sullivan said. “We will take this aid to Ukraine.”
Later in the press conference, Sullivan said that he was “confident” that the US would achieve “Plan A” and that the aid package would be passed in Congress.
“We’re going to get that money out the door as needed,” he said. “So I don’t think we need to talk about plan B today.”
Zelensky called his meeting with Sullivan on Wednesday “a very meaningful, very specific conversation.” video he spoke in Ukrainian.
They talked about “cooperation in the field of defense and the joint political results we should achieve”, Ukrainian President Kha expressed his gratitude to the United States in the video he sent.
The pair discussed efforts to hold Russia accountable, including through sanctions and export controls, as well as “progress in the fight against corruption and other key reforms needed to continue the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. he said during a press gaggle.
According to Watson, Sullivan also met with Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, and other senior Ukrainian officials.
“It is vital that American leadership be strong in protecting the international legal order,” Zelensky said, according to English subtitles of his X video.
The visit to Ukraine comes amid a sharply divided Congress that shows no sign of moving closer to an aid package.
In February, the Senate a bipartisan national security package This includes aid to Ukraine, as well as Israel and Taiwan.
However, hardline conservatives in the House of Representatives have pressed Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to step up aid efforts until including some of his favored provisions on the southern border.
In early February, Republicans was killed A border and immigration deal met with his party’s Democrats.
in March, This was reported by NBC News Johnson and some House committee chairs are working on an aid package for Ukraine and are considering some non-military aid as debt, he said.