Biden says GOP giving Putin ‘the greatest gift’ in stonewalling Ukraine funding

President Biden on Wednesday accused Republicans of giving Russian President Vladimir Putin “the greatest gift he could hope for” by forcing a stalemate in the Senate on negotiations over immigration reform.

The president made the remarks from the White House ahead of a vote in the Senate set up by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to move forward the process of approving Ukraine aid. It is expected to be defeated by Republicans. 

“Congress needs to pass supplemental funding for Ukraine before they break for the holiday recess, it’s as simple as that,” Biden said. 

“Republicans in Congress are willing to give Putin the greatest gift he could hope for, and abandon our global leadership, not just Ukraine, but beyond that.”

The remarks followed a call between Biden and other members of the Group of 7 nations, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Kyiv has also dispatched senior allies to the Washington to lobby Congress to move forward on Biden’s request for more than $60 billion in new military funding.

“Petty partisan, angry politics can’t get in the way of our responsibility as a leading nation in the world,” Biden said.

“And literally, the entire world is watching,” he added. “Think if we don’t support Ukraine, what’s the rest of the world going to do? What’s Japan going to do, which is supporting Ukraine now — what’s going to happen in terms of the G7? What’s going to happen in terms of our NATO allies?” Biden asked, adding that ending support would embolden “other would be aggressors.”

“I’m calling on Congress to do something and do the right thing. To stand with the people in Ukraine. Stand against the tyranny of Putin,” Biden said.  

Biden’s original supplemental request for Ukraine funding also includes military funding for Israel and Taiwan, along with funding to address the crisis at the southern border. Republicans have seized on the border funding of the supplemental to push for sweeping policy changes to U.S. immigration policy.

However negotiations between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have broken down and tempers flared Tuesday night, as GOP lawmakers stormed out of a classified briefing on Ukraine, accusing Democrats of failing to engage seriously with their requests for reform. 

Biden blamed Republicans for the breakdown, and called for compromise.

“Republicans think they can get everything they want without any bipartisan compromise. That’s not the answer,” he said. “And now they’re willing to literally kneecap Ukraine on the battlefield and damage our national security in the process.”