Biden adviser says US aid for Ukraine to get done in ‘coming weeks’

President Biden’s top national security adviser predicted Tuesday that additional U.S. aid for Ukraine would be delivered within weeks, as Congress has punted for months a multi-billion dollar package that has become linked with U.S. immigration reform.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said Biden is “laser focused” on having Congress ultimately pass a national security supplemental package that would provide an estimated $60 billion to support Ukraine’s defensive war against Russia. 

“We’ve got to be able to deliver the necessary resources to Ukraine for the weapons that it needs to be able to achieve the results that it needs, and that requires mobilizing the bipartisan support we have in both the House and Senate, converting that into actual votes for the money,” Sullivan said. 

“President Biden is absolutely laser focused on that. We are seeking to get that done in the coming weeks. And in fact, I continue to believe and express confidence that we will, you know, after a lot of twists and turns, ultimately get there.” 

The comments come as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has signaled that a border deal negotiated in the Senate will not pass in the House. A number of hard-line House Republicans have said they will not accept anything short of H.R.2., a bill that would restore a number of Trump-era border polices.

Sullivan met earlier on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who also addressed the international forum, where the wartime leader sought to rally global support to help Ukraine push Russia out of its territory and hold it accountable for launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022. 

The U.S. has about $4 billion left in its pot of aid for Ukraine, but drawing on that money would deplete American defense stockpiles without the guarantee of refilling it. Biden has linked aid for Ukraine to other national security priorities, including money for Israel, Taiwan and changes to U.S. policy at the southern border, in a more than $100 billion national security supplemental package.

While the majority of Republicans and Democrats support additional assistance for Ukraine, GOP lawmakers have refused to vote on the supplemental without major changes to immigration policy, after Biden tied the issues together in his supplemental request.