The US president said Washington always stood with kyiv to repel the Russian invasion.
US President Joe Biden apologized to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky for previous delays in Washington’s aid to kyiv, emphasizing that the United States “is not going to give up” its support for Ukraine.
The two leaders met Friday in Paris on the sidelines of D-Day Anniversary Celebrationswhere the US president announced a $225 million aid package to help rebuild Ukraine’s power grid.
Biden stressed that the United States would continue to stand with Ukraine against the Russian invasion. “We’re still at it – completely, fully,” he said.
Washington has provided tens of billions of dollars to kyiv to help repel the Russian offensive that began in February 2022. But earlier this year, funds available to the Biden administration to help Ukraine began to decline. decline while Congress was deadlocked on authorizing new aid.
Some right-wing lawmakers are skeptical of U.S. support for Ukraine. To complicate matters further, lawmakers have attempted to tie aid to Ukraine to other issues, including aid to Israel and domestic priorities.
After months of negotiations between the White House and congressional leaders, lawmakers passed a $61 billion Ukraine funding bill in April that Biden signed into law. The legislation also included $14 billion in military aid to Israel.
“I apologize for the weeks of not knowing what’s going on in terms of funding,” Biden told Zelenskyy, blaming “very conservative” members of Congress for delaying the funding bill.
Russia launched its total invasion of Ukraine after a months-long standoff that saw Moscow amass troops near the Ukrainian border as Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded an end to NATO expansion in the former Soviet republics.
Ukrainian forces stopped Russia’s advance on kyiv early in the war and pushed back Kremlin troops in some areas. But the conflict slowly turned into a protracted war, with most of the fighting taking place in eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian counter-offensive last year failed to achieve significant territorial gains. In recent weeks, Russia has new attacks in Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine located 30 km from the Russian border.
On Friday, Biden praised what he called Ukraine’s “impressive” war efforts against Russia.
“You didn’t bow.” You didn’t give in at all. You continue to fight in a remarkable way,” he told Zelensky.
Last month, Washington said it had given kyiv the green light to use U.S.-supplied weapons to attack targets in Russia to help protect Kharkiv.
Zelensky suggested Friday that the move made a difference in the conflict.
“Your decisions have had (a) positive influence. I don’t want to share everything, all the details, with the press, sorry,” Zelensky told Biden. “But I think there are some details about the battlefield that you need to tell us about.” We are grateful for this.
