US coming to end of its ability to continue helping Ukraine: Biden

The Biden administration is about to exhaust its ability to help Ukraine unless the US Congress approves additional funding, President Joe Biden said.

"But without supplemental funding we are rapidly coming to an end of our ability to help Ukraine respond urgent operational demands that it has," Biden said at a joint news conference after talks with his visiting Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky.

The United States "will continue to supply Ukraine with critical weapons and equipment as long as we can," he pledged, adding that earlier on Tuesday he approved $200 million-worth military assistance to Kiev, which included "critically needed equipment" such as air defense interceptors, artillery, and ammunition.

"Putin is banking on the United States failing to deliver for Ukraine," he said. "We must prove him wrong."

The White House submitted to Congress in October a supplemental finding request for the 2024 fiscal year, which began in the US on October 1, primarily to help Israel and Ukraine, but also to contain China and Russia in the Asia Pacific regiion. In total, the executive branch, led by Democrat Biden, would like to have about $106 billion for these purposes.

The future of the request and alternative bills remains unclear. Several Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate have recently spoken out against continued financial aid to Kiev.

House Speaker Mike Johnson repeatedly said that he intends to condition the provision of further aid to Ukraine to the tightening of the control over the US’ southern border. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell spoke in a similar way.

On December 6, the bill on another large batch of aid to Ukraine and Israel, as well as on countering Russia and China in the Asia Pacific, failed a procedural vote in the Senate, despite Biden’s special address to the Congress, in which he called on the lawmakers to approve the spending before they break for the holiday recess.