Zelensky says delay in aid making life ‘very difficult’ for Ukrainians

Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky said delays in military aid have made life ‘very difficult’ for his soldiers and said Russia is taking advantage of American in-fighting. ‘The situation is extremely difficult in several parts of the front line, where Russian troops have amassed maximum reserves,’ he said Monday in a nightly address. Russians ‘are taking advantage of the delays in aid to Ukraine,’ he added.

Meanwhile U.S. lawmakers at the Munich Security Conference recounted a tale they’d heard from Ukrainian officials of a soldier in a muddy trench scrolling his phone for signs the U.S. House might approve aid as Russian artillery exploded all around him. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., called it ‘heartbreaking’ to hear the tale. “For young Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines, this is a persistent topic of conversation,’ he added.

The Senate last Tuesday passed a $95 billion foreign aid package that includes $60 billion for Ukraine, but that package is likely dead on arrival in the House in its current form. Speaker Mike Johnson has insisted he must first sit down with President Biden to discuss attaching border security to the deal . The House is currently on recess and does not return until the middle of next week.

Zelensky outlined ‘very tangible issues’ his soldiers are facing, including a ‘deficit of artillery’ and a need for longer-range missiles. But more aid is already heading Zelensky’s way. The European Union just approved some $54 billion for Ukraine earlier this month. Sweden on Tuesday announced its largest aid package yet and Canada said it was expediting the delivery of more than 800 drones.

Biden, meanwhile, tore into House Republicans for leaving town for nearly two weeks without approving aid. ‘It’s about time they step up — don’t you think? — instead of going on a two-week vacation,’ Biden said Friday. ‘Two weeks they’re walking away. Two weeks. What are they thinking? My God, this is bizarre.’

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal echoed Zelensky on Tuesday. ‘Unfortunately, now they prevail in the air, and unfortunately this leads to some consequences from the front line , but I should say that we have no refuses from our partners to supply military equipment to Ukraine,’ Shmyhal said of Russia.

Republicans broadly argue that the war in Ukraine is unwinnable and there is no off ramp in sight. Ahead of the Senate vote last week, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson described Putin as ‘evil,’ before concluding: ‘Vladimir Putin will not lose this war.’ In the meantime, Ukraine continues to appeal for more help – after Russian dissident Alexei Navalny died in a Siberian prison on Friday.

Ukrainian forces were forced to retreat from the captured town of Avdiivka, a strategic hub in the east of the country late last week. The White House said that was due to a lack of ammunition, which it blamed on the congressional logjam.

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