US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says Ukraine is “losing” the war against Russia as it is running out of ammunition, calling on the Republican-led House of Representatives to pass billions of dollars in aid for Kiev.
Speaking on the Senate floor on Monday, Schumer urged Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans to “snap out of their paralysis and pass the Senate’s national security supplemental” as, “The situation in Ukraine is desperate.”
In February, the Senate passed a $95.3 billion aid package, backed by President Joe Biden, which includes about $60 billion to support Ukraine. It has been stalled for weeks in the House as Republican Johnson has refused to allow a vote.
Noting that Kiev “continues to run out” of ammunition and soldiers, Schumer described the aid package as “the best, quickest, and most realistic way to get Ukraine the help it needs”.
“Let’s be blunt: the biggest reason Ukraine is losing the war is because the hard-right in the Congress has paralyzed the United States from acting,” he added.
Russia launched what it calls “a special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, to ‘defend people’ there from Kiev and over the perceived threat of the ex-Soviet republic joining NATO. Since then, the United States and Ukraine’s other allies have sent Kiev tens of billions of dollars’ worth of weapons, including rocket systems, drones, armored vehicles, tanks, and communication systems.
Western countries have also imposed a slew of economic sanctions on Moscow. The Kremlin has said the sanctions and the Western military assistance will only prolong the war.
This comes as Zelensky said on Sunday that his country will lose the ongoing war against Russia if the United States Congress does not approve the major military aid package.
“It is necessary to specifically tell Congress that if Congress does not help Ukraine, Ukraine will lose the war,” Zelensky said in a nightly video address.
Stressing that it would be difficult for Ukraine to survive without the United States’ military aid, Zelensky claimed, “If Ukraine loses the war, other states will be attacked.”
