WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 As war and winter collide, a top adviser to\u00a0Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u00a0acknowledged during a recent visit to Washington that the days ahead \u201cwill be tough\u201d as his country\u00a0battles Russia\u00a0while U.S. support from Congress hangs in the balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Joe Biden\u2019s nearly\u00a0$106 billion aid package\u00a0for Ukraine, Israel and other needs sits idle in Congress, neither approved nor rejected, but subjected to new political demands from Republicans who are insisting on\u00a0U.S.-Mexico border policy changes\u00a0to halt the flow of migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linking Ukraine\u2019s military assistance to U.S. border security interjects one of the most divisive domestic political issues \u2014 immigration and border crossings \u2014 into the middle of an intensifying debate over wartime foreign policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Congress returns this coming week from the holiday break, Biden\u2019s request will be a\u00a0top item on the to-do list, and the stakes couldn\u2019t be higher. Failure risks delaying U.S. military aid to Kyiv and Israel, along with humanitarian assistance for Gaza, in the midst of\u00a0two wars, potentially undermining America\u2019s global standing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s coming at a crucial time,\u201d said Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, which recently hosted Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president\u2019s chief of staff, at the discussion in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re running out of money,\u201d Coffey said in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What just a year ago was overwhelming support for Ukraine\u2019s young democracy as it reaches for an alliance with the West to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s invasion has devolved into another\u00a0partisan fight\u00a0in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Members of Congress overwhelmingly support Ukraine, embracing Zelenskyy as they did when he arrived on a\u00a0surprise visit\u00a0last December to a hero\u2019s welcome. But the continued delivery of U.S. military and government aid is losing favor with a hard-right wing of Republican lawmakers and with\u00a0some Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nearly half of the U.S. public\u00a0thinks the country is spending too much on aid to Ukraine, according to polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather than approve Biden\u2019s request, which includes $61 billion for Ukraine, Republicans are demanding something in return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said the \u201cbest way\u201d to ensure GOP support for Ukraine is for Biden and Democrats to accept border policy changes that would limit the flow of migrants across the\u00a0border with Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s connected,\u201d he said in\u00a0an interview\u00a0with The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To that end, a core group of senators, Republicans and Democrats, have been meeting privately to come up with a border policy solution that both parties could support, unlocking GOP votes for the Ukraine aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the table are asylum law changes\u00a0pushed by the Republicans\u00a0that would make it more difficult for migrants to enter the United States, even if they claim they are in danger, and reduce their release on parole while awaiting judicial proceedings. Republicans also want to resume construction of the border wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats call these essentially nonstarters, and the border security talks are going slowly. Those who have worked on immigration-related issues for years see a political disaster in the making for all sides \u2014 Ukraine included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s terrible that we\u2019re in the position we\u2019re in,\u201d said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut you know, we were talking all through the night and talking all day today,\u201d he said recently, \u201ctrying to find a path forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added: \u201cI\u2019m not confident we\u2019ll get there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republicans, even defense hawks who strongly back Ukraine, insist the money must come with U.S. border provisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe reality is, if President Biden wants Ukraine aid to pass we\u2019re going to have to have substantial border policy changes,\u201d said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., often a McConnell ally on defense issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House has requested\u00a0roughly $14 billion\u00a0for border security in its broader package, with money for more border patrol officers, detention facilities and judges to process immigration cases. It also includes stepped-up inspections to stop the flow of deadly fentanyl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden and his national security team recently with key senators of both parties. With Congress narrowly split, Republicans holding slim majority control of the House and Democrats a close edge in the Senate, bipartisan agreement will almost certainly be required for any legislation to advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pentagon funding for Ukraine is rapidly dwindling. The Defense Department has the authority to take about $5 billion worth of equipment from its stockpiles to send to Ukraine, but only has about $1 billion to replenish those stocks. So military leaders are worried about the effect on U.S. troop readiness and equipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The need for an infusion of funding is growing \u201cby the day\u201d said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall, half the $113 billion Congress has approved for Ukraine since the war began in February 2022 has gone to the Defense Department, according to the Congressional Research Service. The dollars are being spent to build Ukraine\u2019s armed forces, largely by providing U.S. military weapons and equipment, and replenish U.S. stockpiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Much of the rest goes to emergency and humanitarian aid and to support the government of Ukraine through the World Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
National security experts have watched the Ukrainian forces repurpose outdated American equipment that was headed for decommissioning and use it to obliterate aspects of the Russian armed forces. McConnell has noted that much of the spending stays in the U.S., flowing to defense production in states across the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUkraine is at a critical point,\u201d said Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. \u201cThe Russians are just counting on us to give up and walk away \u2014 and then they walk in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But even border security provisions may not be enough to with over Republicans who are growing increasingly skeptical of Biden\u2019s vow to support Ukraine as long as it takes to defeat Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One Republican, Rep. Mike Garcia of California, is trying to bridge the GOP divide by separating the military funds from money the U.S. spends on the Kyiv government, and pushing the Biden administration to be more open about presenting a strategy for the war\u2019s endgame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Garcia, who drafted a 14-page report that\u00a0new Speaker Mike Johnson delivered during a recent White House meeting,\u00a0said even with border security, Republicans will not approve the full amount for Ukraine that Biden has requested. \u201cIf the Ukraine budget part of it is still $61 billion, that ain\u2019t the right answer,\u201d said Garcia, a former Navy fighter pilot who flew combat missions during the Iraq War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other Republicans, led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a Donald Trump ally, have drawn an even deeper line against Ukraine aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yermak, during his talk in Washington, was thankful for U.S. support, and blunt about the need for more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI tell you the truth, this winter will be tough for us,\u201d he said, urging Americans to back Ukraine at this \u201chistorical moment for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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