Biden's meeting with congressional leaders on Ukraine: first details
US President Joe Biden has concluded a meeting at the White House with congressional leaders to discuss assistance to Ukraine and funding for the government to avoid a shutdown.
This was reported by Democratic and Republican leaders in the US Congress, Politico reports.
Following the meeting, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said that House Speaker Mike Johnson made it clear that he wanted to avoid a shutdown (a temporary suspension of the US government because the budget was not adopted on time).
After the talks, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries also noted that there was optimism that a shutdown would be avoided.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said that keeping the government open was a priority in his talks with Biden.
Schumer also said that new funding for Ukraine was a "tense" component of the negotiations in the White House.
According to the Senate Democratic leader, Speaker Johnson was urged to bring a bill with money for Ukraine to a vote.
"It's in his (Johnson's - ed.) hands," Schumer added.
As a reminder, today, February 27, US President Joe Biden gathered congressional leaders at the White House. The main topics of the talks were to be avoiding a shutdown and helping Ukraine.
President Biden emphasized that the consequences of Congress's inaction on the issue of assistance to Ukraine have become dire.
