U.S. Senate no longer sees agreement on allocating funds for Ukraine in Dec as possible

WASHINGTON. Dec 20 (Interfax) - U.S. senators from both parties have come to the conclusion that allocating further assistance to Ukraine will have to be discussed in January, after the holiday season is over, U.S. media said on Tuesday.

"I hope that they're going to prepare the text and sit down and roll up their sleeves and finish up as soon as we get back in January," Senator Dick Durbin (Democrat) said, speaking of the Republicans.

Senate Speaker, Democrat Chuck Schumer agreed and admitted the impossibility of reaching a compromise with Republicans in December, the media said.

Senator John Thune (Republican) also said that no decision on supporting Ukraine could be made in December. Republican senators insist that it is unacceptable to consider additional funding for Ukraine without agreeing on strengthening security at U.S. borders, he said.

"Democrats have run out the clock to the point where getting a substantive border security deal pass before Christmas is impossible," Thune said.

The U.S. Senate will return to work on January 8.

Thus, both houses of the U.S. Congress appear to have stopped trying to reach a compromise on Ukraine in 2023.

The U.S. House of Representatives said earlier in December that it would go on a Christmas break and drop attempts to agree on the allocation of funds for Kiev this year. Republicans, who have a house majority, promised to return to the issue in 2024.

In October, U.S. President Joe Biden asked Congress to provide $64.1 billion in financial assistance to Ukraine over the year, in addition to $14.3 billion for strengthening Israeli defenses. Biden also requested $13.6 billion for U.S.-Mexico border security, and $7.4 billion for other national security priorities. The overall additional funding request amounts to $106.7 billion.

The Republicans said straight away that they would not agree to the allocations unless the Biden administration met them halfway on certain matters, primarily a package of measures to tangibly bolster security at U.S. borders.