Joe Biden to give ‘major speech’ on Ukraine aid, suggests he has way around Republican roadblock
- The US president hinted that there could be ‘another means’ if Congress continues to baulk at providing military support to Kyiv
- Biden is confident the aid will approved as there is broad bipartisan support, but a ‘small fraction’ of Republicans is causing ‘chaos’, a spokeswoman said
Facing a probable roadblock from House Republicans on aid for Ukraine, US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he is planning to give a major speech on the issue and suggested there may be “another means” to provide support for Kyiv if Congress continues to baulk.
“I’m going to be announcing very shortly a major speech I’m going to make on this issue and why it’s critically important for the United States and our allies that we keep our commitment” to Ukraine, Biden told reporters after giving unrelated remarks at the White House.
White House officials declined to say when Biden planned to give his speech. The president did not elaborate on the alternate method he was looking at to get additional military aid to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.
“There is another means by which we may be able to find funding, but I’m not going to get into that right now,” he said.
Aid for Ukraine has been a source of tension and uncertainty as several Republicans in the House have severe doubts or openly oppose additional funding to sustain the Ukrainian military.