President Joe Biden said Sunday that U.S. aid to Ukraine will continue to flow for now as he sought to reassure allies of continued U.S. financial support for the war effort. But time is running out, the president said in a warning to Congress. We cannot, under any circumstances, allow U.S. support to Ukraine to be interrupted,” Biden said in remarks from the Roosevelt Room after Congress voted late Saturday to avert a crisis.

government shutdown

by approving a short-term financing package that cut off aid to Ukraine in the fight against Russia. “We have time, not a lot of time and there is an overwhelming sense of urgency,” he said, noting that the funding bill only lasts until mid-November. Biden urged Congress to negotiate a relief package as soon as possible. The vast majority of both parties Democrats and Republicans, the Senate and the House of Representatives support aid to Ukraine and the brutal aggression imposed on them by Russia, Biden said. ‘Stop playing games, get this done. But many lawmakers acknowledge that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get approval for Ukraine aid in Congress

used to be

grinds on. Congress supporters of

Ukraine

say they won’t give up after a bill to keep the federal government open denied President Joe Biden’s request to provide more security aid to the

war-torn nation

Still, many lawmakers recognize that gaining approval for

Ukrainian aid

in Congress is becoming increasingly difficult as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues

Republican opposition to the aid is gaining strength in the halls of Congress.

Last week’s vote in the House pointed to the potential problems ahead. Nearly half of Republicans in the House of Representatives have voted to cut $300 million from a defense spending bill to train Ukrainian soldiers and buy weapons. The money was later approved separately, but opponents of aid to Ukraine celebrated their growing numbers.

Than

,

on Saturday, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy

(R-Bakersfield), R-California,

withheld additional aid to Ukraine as a measure to keep the government running until November 17. In doing so, he closed the door on a Senate package that would have funneled $6 billion to Ukraine, about a third of what the White House had requested. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate overwhelmingly approved the emergency measure, with members of both parties abandoning increased aid to Ukraine in favor of avoiding a costly government shutdown.

Biden said a deal had been struck to keep the government running, and he sought to reassure U.S. allies that additional funding would be forthcoming. Look at me, he said, turning to face the cameras in the White House. We’re going to get it done. I cannot believe that those who voted to support Ukraine with overwhelming majorities in the House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans, will allow more people to die needlessly in Ukraine for purely political reasons. Foreign allies were surprised and concerned. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said from Kiev on Sunday that he believed this would not be the final word on US financing, but noted that the EU is still providing substantial financial support to Ukraine and that a new proposal is on the table for additional funding. I hope that this will not be a final decision and that Ukraine will continue to enjoy US support, he said.

The latest actions in Congress mark a gradual shift in the unwavering support the United States has so far pledged to Ukraine in its fight against Russia, and it is one of the clearest examples yet of the Republican movement Parties moving towards a more isolationist attitude. The exclusion from Ukraine funding came just over a week after lawmakers met at the Capitol with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who sought to assure lawmakers that his military was winning the war but stressed that additional aid would be crucial are to continue the fight.

After that visit, Senate Majority Leader

Chuck Charles E.

Schumer

,

(DN.Y.) said one sentence summed up Zelensky’s message during his meeting with the Senate: “If we don’t get the help, we will lose the war,” Schumer said.

Yet McCarthy, under pressure from his right flank, has gone from saying there are no blank checks for Ukraine, emphasizing accountability, to describing the Senate’s approach as a way to put Ukraine before America. He declined to say after the vote on government funding whether he would put the aid to Ukraine up for a vote in the House of Representatives in the coming weeks.

If there is a time when we need to have a discussion about that, we will have a full discussion about that, but I think the government needs to make the case for what victory is, McCarthy said.

Biden said in a statement after Congress averted a shutdown that under no circumstances can we allow U.S. support to Ukraine to be interrupted. He called on McCarthy to stick with the Ukrainian people and pass on the support needed to help Ukraine at this critical time.

In the Senate,

both

Schumer and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky vowed to take swift action to try

and to

passed the White House’s full request. But it was clear that goal will become increasingly difficult as more rank-and-file Republican senators have questioned the aid or demanded that it be tied to immigration policies that would help secure the southern border, echoing similar demands in the House of Representatives. Delegates.

Senator Rick Scott of Florida, a Republican who voted for the spending bill after aid to Ukraine was cut, said Congress needs to have a conversation with the American public. He said he was optimistic after seeing the money taken from the account.

In my state, people want to be helpful to Ukraine, but they also want to be helpful to Americans,” Scott said. “And so they really want to understand how this money was spent.

Democrats said they were disappointed by the lack of funding for Ukraine but were determined they would get aid to the war-torn country.

We will not stop fighting for more economic and security aid for Ukraine, Schumer said after the bill passed. Majorities in both parties support aid to Ukraine, and doing more is critical to American security and to democracy around the world.

Ahead of Saturday’s vote, Pentagon officials expressed concern about the prospect of no additional funding for Ukraine. In a letter to congressional leaders dated Friday, Michael McCord, deputy secretary of defense, wrote that the department has exhausted virtually all available security assistance.

Without additional funding now, we would have to delay or curtail assistance to meet Ukraine’s urgent needs, including for air defense and munitions which are now critical and urgent as Russia prepares for a winter offensive and its bombing of Ukrainian cities continues, McCord said.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin

III

said after the vote that U.S. aid was critical as Ukrainians fought to defend their own country against the forces of tyranny. America must make good on its word.

Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he would like to send a clear message to the world about U.S. support for Ukraine by passing legislation, but believes the Pentagon has enough withdrawal money to make it through to keep up with December. . He said he believes McCarthy still supports financing Ukraine.

I think the speaker has always taken a good position on Ukraine. I think he’s dealing with a faction that has fractures that he’s dealing with and none of them can be ignored when you have a four-seat, fifteen-note majority in the conference, Rogers said, referring to far-right representatives who have strong opposition to the financing of Ukraine.

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he heard McCarthy tell Zelensky

j

during his visit that we will give them what they need.

Unfortunately, the message the speaker and the former president are sending is that they cannot be relied upon, Meeks said, adding a reference to the former president.

Donald

Trump, who has called on Congress to withhold additional funding for Ukraine until the FBI, IRS and Justice Department turn over every scrap of evidence about the Biden family’s business dealings.

The US has approved four rounds of aid to Ukraine in response to the Russian invasion, totaling about $113 billion, with some of that money going to replenish US military equipment sent to the front lines. In August, Biden called on Congress to provide an additional $24 billion.

Saturday’s move by the House of Representatives to take first action on government funding left the Senate with a stark choice: either agree to a bill that does not help Ukraine or allow a prolonged shutdown of government could take place.

Senator Chris

Topher S.

Murphy (D-Conn.) expressed frustration with the outcome.

Every day that goes by that we don’t get the extra money is a day that Russia moves closer to being able to win this war, Murphy said.

Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Ukraine should not be deterred and that aid could be approved through other means.

Neither our friends nor our enemies should see this as a change in America’s commitment to Ukraine, Risch said.

___Associated Press writers Stephen Groves and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.