Will Zelenskyy leave Washington empty-handed?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Washington, D.C., Tuesday in hopes of shoring up support for aid to Kyiv but he received pushback from House Republican leaders, who have set conditions before agreeing to send more funding.

Zelenskyy held a private meeting with the Senate, organized by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, to make the case for passing a $111 billion funding request, which includes at least $60 billion for Ukraine.

“President Zelenskyy’s message was direct: Ukraine will win the war against Russia if more aid is approved,” Schumer said, adding that if “no more aid is approved, Putin will win, it’s that simple.”

The Ukrainian president spoke entirely in English, which one Republican senator perceived as poignant and a sign of respect, as PBS News’ Lisa Desjardins said. He also avoided talking about the border, and, at one point, said, “I know that I should not be involved.” Later, Zelenskyy met with House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said he isn’t willing to keep the House in session over the holidays to negotiate over funding for Kyiv.

“I’m not going to have everybody sit here through Christmas twiddling their thumbs,” Johnson told Hugh Hewitt, a conservative radio show host. “The House members will work. We’ve shown that over and over and over, but we’re not getting any cooperation from the White House and the Senate Democrats at all.”

After the meeting with Zelenskyy, Johnson told reporters it was a “good meeting” before laying out the Republican Conference’s demands. The speaker said he asked the White House for more clarity on the strategy deployed in the Russia-Ukraine war, but the Biden administration’s response has been “insufficient.”

“I’ve also made very clear from day one, that our first condition on any national security supplemental spending package is about our own national security first,” Johnson said, referring to the “catastrophe” at the border, which is overwhelmed with illegal border crossings as well as drug and human trafficking.

Following his meetings at the Capitol, Zelenskyy sat down with President Joe Biden, and the pair held a press conference afterward.

“Today, Ukraine’s freedom is on the line, but if we don’t stop (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, he’ll endanger the freedom of everyone, almost everywhere,” Biden said during the news conference. “Putin will keep going and would-be aggressors everywhere will be emboldened to try to take what they can by force.”

“Mr. President, I’ll not walk away from Ukraine, and neither will the American people,” Biden added. He pressured Congress to pass billions of dollars in assistance to Kyiv before the holiday recess,

But even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican who has remained committed to Ukraine aid, told reported it was “practically impossible” to get this funding request across the finish line before the recess, per The Hill. He said he told the Biden administration to take a more hands-on approach to the negotiations.

Politico reported the White House, in its strategy to bolster support for the request, helped declassify intelligence related to the situation on the ground in Ukraine.

“Russia is determined to press forward with its offensive despite its losses,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “It is more critical now than ever that we maintain our support for Ukraine so they can continue to hold the line and regain their territory.”