Ukraine Aid In Limbo Amid Confusion Over Potential Biden-McCarthy Deal

Contradictory signals from the White House about a potential deal on Ukraine funding between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have sowed confusion in Washington as lawmakers seek consensus on a new aid package for Kyiv.

Biden's comment on Sunday that he "just made" a deal with McCarthy on providing Kyiv with more security assistance left lawmakers guessing and the White House scrambling to explain exactly what the president meant.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to say Monday whether Biden and the speaker had reached a deal on Ukraine after Congress did not include any additional assistance for Kyiv in the spending bill that passed over the weekend to avoid a government shutdown.

"There has been a bipartisan focus and agreement to continue the funding for Ukraine," she said, when asked at a press briefing to clarify Biden's comments. "That is what we're looking at. That is what we're speaking to."

But in attempting to walk back Biden's statement, the White House appeared to embolden conservative House Republicans who oppose providing Ukraine with more military assistance.

"What was in the secret Ukraine side deal?" Republican Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, who is planning to lead an effort to oust McCarthy as speaker, said in a speech Monday on the House floor. "What commitments were made to President Biden?".

A spokesperson for McCarthy did not respond to a request for comment from Newsweek. McCarthy denied Monday that he had struck a deal with Biden on Ukraine.

"There is no side deal going on," he told reporters.

Biden was also pressed on the issue during multiple events Monday at the White House. Biden said at the start of a cabinet meeting that he expected Republicans to deliver for Ukraine, but he did not elaborate on the insinuation he made over the weekend that he had reached a deal with McCarthy.

"I fully expect the speaker and the majority of Republicans in Congress to keep their commitment to secure the passage of the support needed to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression and brutality," Biden said.

But it was unclear what commitment Biden was referring to, raising further questions about the state of potential negotiations as both sides prepare for a fresh debate about America's role in the war.

While officials sent mixed signals on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, the Pentagon warned that the U.S. has spent most of the funding it has left to send weapons to Ukraine.

Congress has approved $113 billion in military, economic and humanitarian aid for Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in February, 2022. Of that, $61.8 billion has gone to the Department of Defense to provide security assistance for Ukraine, according to an analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

But the Pentagon only has $1.6 billion left from the current aid package for Ukraine, a top Defense Department official told congressional leaders in a letter obtained by the Associated Press.

The Pentagon can also still send Ukraine some weapons from existing U.S. stockpiles, bringing its total funding for Ukraine to roughly $6 billion. But experts tracking U.S. funding for Ukraine warned that the Pentagon's remaining resources for Kyiv won't last long.

"There's not a lot left," Elizabeth Hoffman, the director of congressional and governmental affairs at CSIS, told Newsweek. "It's depleting quickly."

George Barros, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, said Moscow is counting on Western military support for Ukraine waning over time.

"The Ukrainians unambiguously are making important gains" in their counteroffensive even though that hasn't yet resulted in significant territorial gains, Barros told Newsweek.

"They're grinding up a tremendous amount of Russian combat power," Barros said, but that can only continue with sustained support from the U.S. and its allies. "If the Ukrainians run out" of Western military aid, he added, "it runs the risk of giving the Russians the breathing room they need to reconstitute their defense."