WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he is worried Republican infighting in Congress could hurt Ukraine aid and promised to deliver a speech soon to outline why the U.S. needs to continue to support Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Asked if he was concerned that the United States would not be able to deliver the aid that it has promised to Ukraine because of the disarray on Capitol Hill, Biden said: “It does worry me … but I know there are a majority of members of the House and Senate in both parties who have said that they support funding Ukraine.”
Biden said he would be making a major speech on the issue, outlining why it was critically important for the United States and its allies to keep its commitment to Ukraine, which was invaded by Russian forces in February 2022 and is relying heavily on Western-supplied weapons to defend itself.
The president also indicated that there was another avenue that the U.S. could use to fund Ukraine aside from the tranches of aid that were getting congressional approval.
“There is another means by which we may be able to find funding for that,” Biden said. He declined to give further details, and the White House also declined to go beyond Biden’s comment.
(Reporting By Steve Holland, Jarrett Renshaw and Jeff Mason; Editing by Chris Reese and Grant McCool)
