Ukrainian president had been expected to join Zoom call but ‘something came up at the last minute’
Several Republican senators walked out of a classified briefing on Ukraine Tuesday as it descended into a row over the border crisis, after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, unexpectedly canceled a video-link appearance to appeal for continued US funding.
Zelenskiy had been due to update the senators on the latest developments in the conflict with Russia and press for them to support a procedural vote expected Wednesday on an emergency aid package that includes more than $60bn for Kyiv.
The cash has been held up for weeks in Congress, as the White House has warned that existing funds will run out by the end of the year and that Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, could win the war if lawmakers fail to act.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Several Republican senators walked out of a classified briefing on Ukraine Tuesday as it descended into a row over the border crisis, after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, unexpectedly canceled a video-link appearance to appeal for continued US funding.
Zelenskiy had been due to update the senators on the latest developments in the conflict with Russia and press for them to support a procedural vote expected Wednesday on an emergency aid package that includes more than $60bn for Kyiv.
The cash has been held up for weeks in Congress, as the White House has warned that existing funds will run out by the end of the year and that Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, could win the war if lawmakers fail to act.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, announced that Zelenskiy had been prevented from taking part by a “last minute” hiccup, but he pressed ahead with the briefing anyway – only for the proceedings to turn into a war of words.
Utah’s Mitt Romney left early, confirming that “a number” of his Republican colleagues had followed suit, angry that they had heard nothing on their demand that Ukraine aid be coupled with action on the immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border.
The House speaker, the Republican Mike Johnson, responded to Young’s letter on Tuesday outlining his caucus’s demands on border security and reiterating his position that funding for Israel and Ukraine should not be included in the same bill.
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