Biden vows to support Ukraine after bill drops aid; Putin hopes for Trump term, Esper warns: Updates

The eleventh-hour bill that averted a federal government shutdown included no new funding for Ukraine, but President Joe Biden was quick to assure the Kyiv government that U.S. support remains steadfast.

A Senate version of the measure would have provided more than $6 billion for Ukraine, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy dropped the funding to placate some hard-line Republicans. Biden said he "fully expected" McCarthy would keep his commitment to Ukraine and secure passage of aid Kyiv needs.

"We cannot under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted," Biden said in a statement after signing the 45-day stopgap measure Saturday night.

McCarthy expressed support for Ukraine but said the White House must discuss funding plans with House leadership so "we have a say as well."

"What Russia has done is wrong," McCarthy said after the vote, adding that "whatever we do, we have to define what victory is and what the plan is."

A bipartisan group of senators, including the majority and minority leaders, issued a statement saying they would continue working to provide the means for Ukraine to fight "against Putin’s brazen aggression."

But GOP support for Ukraine has weakened significantly in the House, where McCarthy is expected to face a vote for his ouster as speaker this week, possibly complicating further funding.

There's no clear consensus on how quickly Ukraine needs the next aid package, but Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said the sooner it's approved, the better. “Every day that goes by that we don’t get the additional money is a day Russia gets closer to being capable of winning this war,” Murphy said.

'Massive cyberattack' disrupts Russian aid; Moscow's economy struggles: Live updates

Developments:

◾ Ukrainian drones struck a helicopter base in the Russian city of Sochi, home of the 2014 winter Olympics, Ukraine and Russian authorities said. An airplane factory in Smolensk also was hit.

◾ The Kremlin says eased U.N. sanctions against Iran will allow the sale of drones that Russia plans to use in a "massive blow" on Ukrainian forces. The U.S. and other Ukraine allies say Russia has been using Iran-built drones against Ukraine for several months.

◾ Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters, “There are no British soldiers that will be sent to fight in the current conflict.'' He was responding comments by new Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps, who told the Sunday Telegraph he was discussing with the British army eventually training Ukrainian soldiers in their home country.

◾ Dozens of mourners hailed Yevgeny Prigozhin as a truth-telling hero at memorial services in Russian cities for the former Wagner boss, who was killed Aug. 23 in a mysterious plane crash that also took nine other lives.

EU urges US lawmakers to reconsider in light of 'existential threat'

The exclusion of military assistance for Ukraine in the U.S. spending bill took some European leaders by surprise, and they called on American lawmakers to reconsider while vowing to continue supporting the embattled nation.

After meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he hopes the U.S. decision is not final.

“We are facing an existential threat,'' Borrell said. "Ukrainians are fighting with all their courage and capacities, and if we want them to be successful, then you have to provide them with better arms, and quicker.“

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said the funding decision does not mean the U.S. has changed its position on Ukraine. “All of Ukraine’s key partners are determined to support our country until its victory in this war,” he wrote on Telegram.

Putin rooting for another Trump term, former US defense chief says

It's safe to say Russian President Vladimir Putin enjoyed watching Congress leave Ukraine aid out of the funding bill, though probably not as much as he'd like having former President Donald Trump return to the White House.

Mark Esper, who served as Trump's defense secretary from July 2019 to November 2020, told CBS' "Face the Nation'' that Putin could be planning to extend the war through next year's presidential election and hope Trump returns to power.

If that happens, "I suspect Trump will quickly move to end funding for Ukraine, and then at some point he’s also going to move to withdraw funding for NATO, and maybe even pull out of NATO, which would be disastrous for United States national security," Esper said.

The Biden administration has led the international resistance to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, investing more than $100 billion in the effort, which Trump has criticized.

Pro-Moscow party wins in Slovakia, a NATO member

A pro-Russian party won parliamentary elections in Slovakia and likely will seat a new prime minister who has vowed to halt aid to Ukraine. The Direction party of former Prime Minister Robert Fico claimed 23% of the votes Saturday while incumbent, pro-West Progressive Slovakia party was second with 18%. Slovakia has been among top supporters of the Kyiv government, but Fico has pledged to block Ukraine membership in NATO, questioned Ukraine's ability to defeat Russia and urged a negotiated settlement to the 19-month war.

Progressive Slovakia Chairman Michal Šimečka tweeted that the party had faced "constant attacks from all sides" and that the election results were "bad news and a big risk for Slovakia," a NATO member since 2004. Fico will get first crack at building a coalition government, but Šimečka did not rule out the possibility of a coalition government led by his party.

"We will do everything to ensure that Robert Fico does not rule in Slovakia," he told Pravda Slovakia.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine war updates: No money in spending bill that averted shutdown