WASHINGTON – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went to the United States Congress on Dec 12 to appeal for more aid to resist Russia’s invasion, and Republican leaders told him to first wait for an elusive US deal on immigration.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he told Mr Zelensky that Republicans “stand with him and against Putin’s brutal invasion” but won’t send more aid until Democrats accept “a transformative change” in US immigration and border policies.

Republican demands for tough measures to stem a surge in migration across the US-Mexico border have delayed new Ukraine assistance for months. 

The Senate Armed Services Committee’s top-ranking Republican, Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, said after a private session Mr Zelensky held with US senators that he would prefer to send the aid in December, but congressional approval will most likely slip to early January 2024 as the border talks continue. 

“The house is not on fire,” Mr Wicker said of Ukraine’s need for ammunition and other weaponry. 

Mr Zelensky said in a post on social media platform X that he had “a friendly and candid conversation” with the senators and informed them about “Ukraine’s current military and economic situation” as well as “the significance of sustaining vital US support”.

Newly declassified intelligence shared with some congressional officials puts Russian losses in the war so far at 315,000 deaths or injuries, a source familiar with the talks said.

Russia has also lost about 63 per cent of its tanks, which had been a fleet of 3,500 before the invasion, and the war has set back efforts to modernise its ground forces by about 15 years, according to the source.

Mr Zelensky told the senators Ukraine is considering conscripting men over 40 years old to bolster its front-line troop levels, Mr Wicker said, a sign that the Ukrainian government is struggling to replace killed and wounded soldiers. 

Support for Ukraine has been slipping among Republican voters, with 65 per cent of Republicans saying the US is spending “too much” to help Ukraine’s war effort, according to a Financial Times-Michigan Ross poll taken on Dec 5 and 6.

Many Republican lawmakers voiced support for Ukraine and called the meeting with Mr Zelensky inspirational. But they demanded changes to US immigration and border policies before approving additional aid. 

“There will be no supplemental without border security reform,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he told Mr Zelensky. 

Democrats are resisting most of the Republican demands, leaving both sides locked in a stand-off and delaying military assistance to help Ukraine at a critical moment in its fight against Russia’s invasion. 

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer left the meeting with Mr Zelensky calling the session “productive” and “very powerful”. 

Democrats involved in Ukraine funding negotiations on Capitol Hill are growing more frustrated that President Joe Biden is not more directly engaged, including with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the source familiar with the talks said.

Republicans also said Ukraine aid could pass in 2023 if Mr Biden got more involved in the talks and made better offers to them. 

There is a fair amount of uncertainty on what the White House is willing to concede on border security issues to win Republican votes on Ukraine.

Still, Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a close ally of Mr Biden who is a leading negotiator for Democrats in the talks, said the White House is “getting more involved”.

Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said Mr Zelensky understood the end-of-year politics at play on Capitol Hill. 

“He’s an elected official himself,” Mr Tillis said when leaving the meeting.

“He understood we have to go through this political process and get border security wrapped up.” BLOOMBERG