Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an appearance at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., to plead his case for why the U.S. should send additional aid to Ukraine.
While giving remarks on Monday, Zelenskyy said that “Ukrainians haven’t given up and won’t give up” in the war against Russia that began in February 2022.
“We know what to do and you can count on Ukraine and we hope just as much to be able to count on you,” Zelenskyy said, as reported by NBC News.
“Every one of you with command experience knows what it means when instead of moving forward, you’re just watching, waiting for armor or equipment while your enemy is satisfied and preparing for assaults.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin welcomed Zelenskyy in his introduction by telling him that the U.S. is “determined to help Ukraine consolidate and extend its battlefield games and to build a future force that can ward off Russian aggression in the years ahead.”
“If we do not stand up to the Kremlin’s aggression today, if we do not deter other would-be aggressors, we will only invite more aggression, more bloodshed and more chaos. America will be more secure if we stand up to Putin’s increasingly aggressive Russia,” said Austin, per NBC.
Austin recently traveled to Ukraine to meet with the country’s leaders, where he told Zelenskyy that “the United States of America is with you,” as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Zelenskyy will remain in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, where he will meet with President Joe Biden at the White House and speak before Congress at an all-senators meeting in the morning.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that Russia has ramped up its missile and drone attacks, prompting Biden and Zelenskyy to “discuss Ukraine’s urgent needs and the vital importance of the United States’ continued support at this critical moment.”
These trips come following a letter to Congress by Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, claiming the U.S. will “run out of resources to procure more weapons and equipment for Ukraine and to provide equipment from U.S. military stocks” without congressional action.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the letter signifies that the Biden administration has spent nearly all of the $111 billion in taxpayer funds previously allocated to supporting Ukraine.
Biden has since requested that Congress pass a $110.5 billion national security supplemental package that includes roughly $30 billion for Ukraine; however, this package has run into obstacles as Republican leaders stress the need for additional border security.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has explained that Republican members are willing to pass the package, but they also think that more can be done in the package to support the crisis at the U.S. border.
“They don’t want to deal with border security in the context of the supplemental. We do, because we know that will guarantee an outcome,” he said, as reported by The Dallas Express.
“We want it to actually happen. This is an opportunity.”
