On Monday, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States was seeking to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine by the end of 2023. However, US senators are scheduled to go on Christmas break on December 15.
"There's no way to get it done this week ... The question is are we staying in next week or does this actually move into early January to be able to resolve? That's a big unknown at this point, and that depends on how the negotiation actually goes and how we're actually working through to be able to actually get text that actually works," Senator James Lankford, who is leading the negotiations for the Republicans, told NBC News.
Meanwhile, Senator Chris Murphy, leading the talks for the Democrats, said that the possibility of the Senate reaching an agreement this week "seems like an uphill climb — but not impossible" and that he had seen "stranger things happen" in the parliamentary house, the broadcaster reported. Although US lawmakers "don't have the benefit of time right now," there still "can be a path" if Republicans reconsider their position, Murphy was quoted as saying by NBC News.
Meanwhile, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that the year of 2024 will be very difficult if the US Congress fails to approve new military assistance for Ukraine.
"I think 2024 will be a very difficult year if we are not able to get the assistance to Ukraine," Sullivan told the WSJ CEO Council.
The failure by Congress to approve President Joe Biden’s national security supplemental request "will have a significant effect on Ukraine’s capacity to hold territory, let alone to take territory back from Russians," Sullivan warned.
If the US fails to provide the necessary amount of ammunition and weapons systems, it will be impossible for Ukraine to "have the battlefield progress that we have seen over the course of the past 18 months," he stated.
12 December 2023, 12:33 GMT
In October, US President Joe Biden submitted a $106 billion supplemental request to Congress that includes $61 billion for Ukraine. In December, the total request grew to nearly $111 billion as Senate Democrats released new draft legislation. However, last week, the request was blocked, just as the previous one, due to disagreements among lawmakers, with Republicans demanding the inclusion of border security measures in the bill.
The White House's Office of Management and Budget warned in a letter to Congress last week that it would run out of money for military aid to Ukraine by the end of the year unless Congress passed its supplemental funding request.