Ukrainian president

Vlodomyr Volodymyr

Zelenskiy

j

came to

Washington to

Thursday with a problem to solve.

A year and a half after Russia invaded Ukraine, once bipartisan support for U.S. military financing for the embattled country has evaporated.

Seventy-one percent of Republicans and 55% of independents, but only 38% of Democrats, say Congress should not approve additional funding for the war, according to a July CNN poll.

S

Some Republican members have followed their constituents’ lead. In August, 70 Republicans in the House of Representatives, nearly a third of the caucus, voted for an amendment that would cut off all U.S. aid to Ukraine. Rep. Doug LaMalfa of Richvale was the only Republican in California to vote for the measure, but that failed after Democrats joined the Republican Party majority in abolishing the measure.

Zelenskiy

j

fresh

comes from

visiting the

UN United Nations

The General Assembly in New York City arrived at the Capitol on Thursday amid heavy security. His top priority: ensuring that the number of Republicans unwilling to continue funding the war effort does not grow.

Meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy

(R-Bakersfield)

which also faces a looming government shutdown and possible coup

to the far right

members of his caucus, was first on the Ukrainian leader’s agenda. The meeting was attended by committee and party leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries

(DN.Y.). of New York.

Zelensky later met senators behind closed doors.

Speaker

McCarthy declined Zelensky’s request to address a joint session of Congress, saying there was not enough time. He also reportedly rejected a White House offer to give House lawmakers the same classified briefing the Senate received this week.

Asked by reporters about the meeting, McCarthy said only that it was good.”

After the meeting, McCarthy tried to get far-right members to support legislation to boost Pentagon funding. The measure failed in a floor vote, only adding to McCarthy’s list of problems as the federal government heads toward a shutdown.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

(R-Ky.) Of Kentucky

was more enthusiastic

after his meeting with Zelensky. “American support for Ukraine is not charity,” he said after meeting with Zelensky. “It is an investment in our own direct interests, not least because downgrading Russia’s military power helps deter our main strategic adversary: ​​China.”

Many Republican House members in California are in a particularly difficult position. Of the eighteen Republicans who control the districts that President Biden won in 2020, five, almost a third, are in California. If they continue to support the war effort, they could alienate the GOP base in their districts. But voting against aid to Ukraine, which Democrats still support, could limit their appeal.

Peter Harris, a political scientist at Colorado State University, told The Times that some Republicans oppose approving funding because they believe the United States should focus more on defeating another global power: China. Harris also predicted that support for Ukraine will likely continue to decline as the war continues.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a fairly sizable faction within the Republican Party concluded that it would make political sense to end the war rather than support Ukraine,” Harris said.

Some Republicans vying for the White House have already made that call. During August

a

GOP primary debate, Florida governor. Ron DeSantis and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy both said they would cut aid to Ukraine if elected president.

Although support for the war has also declined among Democratic voters since the invasion, Democratic lawmakers remain overwhelmingly in favor of approving military aid.

In an interview with The Times, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) said that “when there is disagreement within a political party, people try to differentiate themselves from each other.”

Gomes said:

and notes that many Republicans on the Intelligence Committee understand the stakes:

i

As US military aid

e

stops, it will make the war even more challenging for the Ukrainians.

The Kremlin’s propaganda is successfully convincing many voters that the United States should not be in Ukraine, and some Republicans are happily repeating that propaganda, Gomez argued. Congress must “send a loud message around the world that we stand with our friends and we will not allow them to be taken over by a rogue state,” he said.

“

The role of the United States and its status around the world depends on us keeping our word,” Gomez added. “And if we allow a country like Russia to invade another country, it could create the willingness of other countries to take action. by military force.”

Zelensky left the Capitol before noon and traveled to the Pentagon to meet with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III.

Hello Zelensky

is expected to meet with President Biden at the White House

on

Thursday afternoon.

Hours before Zelensky met McCarthy, Ukraine was hit by the largest barrage of Russian missiles in more than a month.

Overnight, 43 Russian cruise missiles hit cities from east to west, including the capital Kiev; the country’s second largest city, Kharkov, close to the Russian border; and Lviv, near the Polish border. The Ukrainian military said 36 of the projectiles were shot down, including 20 over Kiev.

For a period of hours that lasted into early morning, the repeated sound of air raid sirens sent people scrambling for shelter, many with small children and pets in tow. In Kiev, falling debris damaged several buildings and injured at least four people. Zelensky made grim note of the wave of strikes, writing in a post on the messaging app Telegram that air defense is one of the key issues in his efforts to win congressional support for more aid.

Times staff writer Laura King contributed to this report from Kyiv.