Biden offers public apology to Ukraine’s Zelenskyy over weapons delay

U.S. President Joe Biden in Paris on Friday publicly apologized to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the delay of the U.S. government’s approval of aid to Kyiv. He blamed conservatives in the U.S. Congress for holding up $61 billion in aid to Ukraine. Biden said since that package had passed, he had provided five more security assistance packages to Kyiv. He also, on Friday, promised a sixth package of $225 million, including air defenses and artillery systems.

Did he explain why Republicans had delayed the package? Biden didn’t explain Republicans’ reasons for blocking the package. Some Republicans in the House of Representatives delayed sending the aid to Ukraine to press the U.S. government first to secure its southern border—and strengthen its current border policies—which they called a more pressing national security threat. Despite their opposition, the House and Senate ultimately passed the package, and Biden signed it into law in April.

What has Russia said about the United States supplying weapons to Ukraine? Russian President Vladimir Putin and another high-level Russian security official earlier this week said the Kremlin was considering supplying arms to Western countries’ enemies. The Kremlin, if it did supply the weapons, would be doing so in response to the United States telling Ukraine it could use U.S. weapons against targets inside Russia, they said.