Biden tells Zelensky not to give up hope and warns Congress will give Putin ‘the greatest Christmas gift’ ever if they don’t approve aid for Ukraine as Mitch McConnell says talks are DEAD for the year

President Joe Biden told Volodymyr Zelenskiy not to lose hope as he hosted the Ukrainian president at the White House on Tuesday as part of a pressure campaign to get Republicans in Congress to approve the funds Kiev needs to fight the Russian forces.

“I don't want you to lose hope,” Biden told him in the Oval Office. 'We remain by your side.'

Zelensky flew to Washington to argue for $61.4 billion held up by Republicans on Capitol Hill, who want to make provisions related to securing the US southern border.

“People must have confidence that freedom will be safe and strong enough to win,” he told Biden in the Oval.

And Biden warned that Congress will give Russian President Vladimir Putin the “greatest Christmas present” ever if they don't approve more funding for Ukraine.

“Congress must approve additional funding for Ukraine before the holiday break before they give Putin the biggest Christmas gift they can possibly give him,” Biden said.

The Ukrainian president spent the morning at the Capitol lobbying lawmakers, but it could all be for naught: Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told his senators that the talks are going nowhere.

McConnell said during a private Senate lunch that took place shortly before Biden's meeting with Zelensky that the talks will be postponed until January, Punchbowl DC reported.

The move would be a blow to the Biden administration and his Zelensky's war effort.

Biden reiterated his concern that Putin would increase his offensive if Congress did not act. And he warned Putin that he planned to bomb Ukraine's power grid this winter.

“Putin plans to bomb Ukraine's power grid and use rockets to plunge families into darkness during the coldest part of the year, causing widespread damage. We cannot and will not let him succeed,” Biden said.

Zelensky said his country is working to become less dependent on outside aid.

'Ukraine is becoming significantly less dependent on aid and we are moving in the right direction. “I want to discuss with the president how we can strengthen the country, especially by improving our air defenses and our ability to destroy Russian logistics,” he said.

Zelensky's personal visit to Washington, the third since the war began, is his most crucial and is a sign of how dire the White House sees the situation: both to get Zelensky his funding and how crucial that money is to countering Russian forces hold. .

Biden has asked Congress for $61.4 billion for Ukraine as part of a $110 billion package that also includes money for Israel and other national security priorities.

The money is embroiled in a debate over U.S. immigration policy and border security, with no sign of a deal in sight. And Congress will leave town at the end of this week for the rest of the year.

Many Republican lawmakers, especially in the House of Representatives, argue that enough American money has been spent on Ukraine and that it would be better off spending it domestically. These Republican lawmakers are trying to tie border security to the financing package for Kiev and Israel.

The US has already provided Ukraine with $111 billion for its fight since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded the country in February 2022.

But the Biden administration has warned that a failure to renew military aid to Ukraine could tilt the nearly two-year war in Russia's favor, creating national security threats for the West.

Zelensky started his day on Capitol Hill, where he attended a meeting of all senators after a joint invitation from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. He then met with Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson.

Biden's budget director Shalanda Young said on December 4 that the US would run out of resources to help Ukraine by the end of the calendar year.

By mid-November, the U.S. Department of Defense had used 97% of the $62.3 billion in additional funding and the State Department had used the entire $4.7 billion in military assistance to Ukraine it had allocated, she noted.

The US has provided roughly half of the military aid to Ukraine and it is unlikely that any other country could make up the difference. In addition, the US has sent American weapon systems that require American ammunition.

The Biden administration is doing everything it can to get Zelensky's war financed.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on political talk shows on Sunday that the clock is ticking.

“This is a time to really step up, because if we don't, we know what happens. Putin will be able to move forward with impunity and we know he will not stop in Ukraine,” Blinken said.

Johnson left his meeting with Zelensky seemingly disinterested due to the urgent need for aid, emphasizing that no US dollars would pass without adequate US border facilities.

“I reiterated to him that we stand with him and are against Putin's brutal invasion,” the speaker said of their conversation.

But he added, “I have been asking the White House since the day I was handed the gavel as speaker, and to be clear, we need a clear articulation of the strategy to let Ukraine win.”

Johnson then accused Democrats of not being open enough to the border provisions Republicans are demanding in exchange for foreign aid.

“It's not the House's issue right now, the issue is with the White House and the Senate, and I implore them to do their job,” the speaker said.

Schumer said he called Johnson and asked him to keep the House in session. But Johnson said he wouldn't do that without a clear path forward.

'I don't know what else to do. I'm not going to let everyone sit here Christmas twiddling their thumbs,” he said.

'We are willing to work. The MPs will work. We have shown that time and time again, but we are getting no cooperation at all from the White House and the Democrats in the Senate,” Johnson told radio host Hugh Hewitt this morning.

Zelensky, meanwhile, advocated life-or-death aid to continue his country's fight against Russia.

“The fight we are in is a fight for freedom,” he said repeatedly during the rallies, lawmakers said.

He also told senators that his citizens would resort to “guerrilla war” if necessary and that support would dry up.

“The president did mention guerrilla warfare at some point, if he doesn't get the kind of support — if it's downgraded (to) that point,” Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told a group of reporters after the meeting.

“I mean, Putin would face a protracted guerrilla war in whatever parts of Ukraine you would occupy, which may not be particularly attractive to him,” he said.

President Biden signaled a willingness to reach an agreement with Republicans on border funding, but Republicans say the administration won't give in to their push for policy gains. The Biden administration says it is running out of supplies the US can deliver to Ukraine.

'The day we get those policy changes. We're going to have a big vote in the Senate and I think there's enough in the House of Representatives,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham predicted.

As for the Ukrainians, 'they will continue to fight forever, but they don't just need the money and help that we are going to give them. They need more weapons, weapons with longer range,” he said.