During a phone call with the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy emphasized the urgent need for Congress to swiftly pass a new military aid package for Kyiv. Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has been withholding a bill that would provide $60 billion in military and financial assistance to Ukraine for several months. Zelenskiy stressed the importance of quick action from Congress, stating, “Quick passage of U.S. aid to Ukraine by Congress is vital.
We recognize that there are differing views in the House of Representatives on how to proceed, but the key is to keep the issue of aid to Ukraine as a unifying factor.” With Ukrainian troops facing challenges on the battlefield and experiencing shortages of artillery supplies due to delays in U.S. assistance and the European Union’s failure to deliver promised munitions on time, the situation remains precarious. Zelenskiy briefed Speaker Johnson on the battlefield situation and highlighted the “dramatic increase in Russia’s air terror.”
Recent events have underscored the severity of the situation, with Russia conducting its largest air strike on Ukraine’s energy system since the invasion in February 2022. The attack damaged power units at a major dam, resulting in blackouts for over a million people. Moscow has labeled these attacks as “revenge” strikes in response to alleged Ukrainian attacks on Russian regions. Russia’s use of harder-to-stop ballistic missiles has escalated, although it denies targeting civilians, despite civilian casualties resulting from its strikes.