Zelenskyy had a telephone conversation with the Speaker of the US House of Representatives

Zelenskyy had a telephone conversation with the Speaker of the US House of Representatives

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today, March 28, had a telephone conversation with Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson.

Zelenskyy reports this on Telegram .

"Had a telephone conversation with Speaker of the House of Representatives Johnson. Thanked him personally, both parties, the American people and President Biden for his vital support to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion," the statement said.

The President told the speaker about the situation on the battlefield, in particular, about the rapid increase in Russian air terror. Over the past week alone, Ukrainian cities and communities were hit by 190 rockets, 140 suicide bombers and 700 KABs. The largest Ukrainian hydroelectric power station has been disabled.

“In this situation, the quick passage of aid for Ukraine by Congress is critically important. We are aware that there are different positions in the House of Representatives on how to do this, but the main thing is that the issue of aid to Ukraine remains a factor of unification,” the president added.

What else were they talking about?

Zelenskyy added that during the conversation they also discussed the need to quickly cut off the sources from which Russia finances its war.

Zelenskyy and Johnson also discussed the use of frozen assets in favor of Ukraine.

“In this we also count on the leadership of the Congress,” the head of Ukraine added.

Problems with US financial assistance for Ukraine

After the failure of the vote for Joe Biden’s $106 billion aid bill for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, a new $96 billion aid bill for the three countries was drafted in early February this year, but without a package to protect the US southern border with Mexico. It provides more than $60 billion for Ukraine’s needs.

On February 13, the Senate approved this document. However, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson deliberately refuses to bring the bill to a vote, thereby delaying the provision of military assistance to Ukraine.

Johnson began discussing a compromise version of the bill with congressmen. It proposes to allocate much less funds to Ukraine – only $47.69 billion. Johnson also hinted that the House of Representatives is ready to unblock assistance to Ukraine, but it will not be provided to the United States for free, but under a loan or credit program.