National security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Wednesday to reaffirm U.S. support for the beleaguered country as congressional aid efforts have repeatedly floundered.
During the meeting, Sullivan “stressed the urgent need for the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the national security supplemental to meet Ukraine’s critical battlefield needs,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
Sullivan acknowledged the difficulty in passing supplemental aid for Ukraine, saying during a press conference Wednesday that he knew there were “questions here because of the back and forth in our Congress and the months that have gone by without the supplemental bill coming through.”
“We are confident we will get this done,” Sullivan said. “We will get this aid to Ukraine.”
Later in the press conference, Sullivan said he was “confident” that the U.S. would “achieve plan A” and get an aid package passed in Congress.
“We will get that money out the door as we should,” he added. “So I don’t think we need to speak today about plan B.”
Zelenskyy called Wednesday’s meeting with Sullivan a “very meaningful, very specific conversation,” according to the English subtitles of a video in which he spoke in Ukrainian.
They talked about “defense cooperation and the joint political results we need to achieve,” the Ukrainian president said in the video posted to X, expressing his gratitude to the U.S.
The pair discussed efforts to hold Russia accountable — including through sanctions and export controls — as well as “progress on anti-corruption and other key reforms needed to further” the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said during a press gaggle.
Sullivan also met with Andriy Yermak, who serves as the head of Zelenskyy’s office, as well as other senior Ukrainian officials, according to Watson.
“It is vital that American leadership remains strong in protecting the international legal order,” said Zelenskyy, according to the English subtitles of his X video.
The trip to Ukraine comes against the backdrop of a bitterly divided Congress that shows no signs of moving closer to an aid package.
In February, the Senate passed a bipartisan national security package that included aid for Ukraine, as well as Israel and Taiwan.
In the House, however, hardline conservatives have pressured Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to spike aid efforts until some of their preferred provisions regarding the southern border are included.
Earlier in February, Republicans killed a border and immigration deal their own party negotiated with Democrats.
In March, NBC News reported that Johnson and chairmen of certain House committees were working on a Ukraine aid package and considering treating some nonmilitary aid as a loan.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
