When President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine first visited the Capitol a year ago to plead in person for American support to help his country beat back a Russian invasion, he received a hero’s welcome from lawmakers. They invited him to address a joint meeting of Congress and capped off his trip by approving nearly $50 billion to arm and aid his nation.
But as Mr. Zelensky returns for his third visit, his star power has significantly diminished in Congress, with Republicans blocking new funding for Ukraine’s war, citing doubts about how the money is being used and whether Kyiv has a clear path to victory.
Some have even suggested he has no business returning to Capitol Hill.
Senator J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, told reporters on Monday that he and other members of his party were “offended” by Mr. Zelensky’s visit, complaining that he was coming “to guilt trip us,” and calling the move “grotesque.”
Mr. Zelensky has long been regarded as his country’s most compelling advocate on the world stage, a role he has embraced to keep the international contributions vital to Ukraine’s war effort flowing since Russian troops launched their assault in early 2022. But in the halls of Congress, Mr. Zelensky’s more recent appeals have fallen flat, as fewer and fewer Republican lawmakers appear to be moved by — or even willing to listen to — what he has to say.
When Mr. Zelensky last visited Washington in September, he addressed senators privately, and House Republicans as a conference did not even give him an audience; the speaker at the time, Kevin McCarthy, and a handful of others met with him behind closed doors. His fervent warning to senators and House leaders that “if we don’t get the aid, we will lose the war” failed to persuade them to include emergency military assistance for Ukraine in a stopgap funding measure to avoid a federal government shutdown.
Mr. Zelensky’s planned meetings on Tuesday with senators and Speaker Mike Johnson come just days after Republican senators blocked a bill that included about $50 billion in security assistance for Ukraine. The Ukrainian president skipped a planned appearance via secure videoconference with senators on the eve of that vote, leading some to speculate he did not want to make a personal appeal for legislation that was all but certain to stall.
But this week’s visit amounts to a desperate move at a critical time. The failed Senate vote means that Congress is exceedingly unlikely to approve more aid for Ukraine before the end of the year, and may turn against doing so altogether, despite warnings from the White House that without new funds, Kyiv will suffer on the battlefield.
Republican lawmakers have been growing increasingly hostile to the idea of renewing military assistance for Ukraine without first taking significant steps to crack down on migration across the United States’ southern border with Mexico. The push to tie the two unrelated issues together, which began this summer as a rallying cry among right-wing Republicans, has since been embraced by the rest of the party, including staunch backers of Kyiv, complicating efforts to get more aid for Ukraine through Congress.
