'No appetite' for new Ukraine aid bill, US House speaker says
There is no appetite for another assistance bill for Ukraine, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview with Newsmax on Feb. 20 amid growing tensions between Washington and Kyiv.
U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed to mediate a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia while using increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Kyiv. After accusing Ukraine of starting the war, Trump dubbed President Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator without elections."
"We have to bring (the war) to an end. And I can tell you that our European allies understand the necessity as well. It's (dragged) on too long," Johnson said.
Johnson, a Republican and staunch Trump supporter, has served as the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives since October 2023. He delayed aid to Kyiv for six months by refusing to hold a vote on various iterations of a $61 billion foreign assistance bill but eventually reached a deal to pass the legislation in April 2024.
The speaker voiced support for the U.S. president, saying he is "the brute force" that can end Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
Trump's plan to end the war remains unclear. His special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, said the war could end this year, pledging to "engage all parties" within 180 days to achieve this.
American and Russian delegations met in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 18. No concrete decisions were announced following the talks, but Ukraine's exclusion from the meeting sparked alarm in Kyiv and Europe.
Unofficial U.S. and Russian representatives have also reportedly been quietly meeting in Switzerland in recent months for informal discussions regarding Ukraine.
Chris York
