U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, representing the Democratic Party, has scheduled the first procedural vote on President Joe Biden's $106 billion funding request, including $61 billion for Ukraine, for later this week, The Hill reported on Dec. 5.
The White House has warned that support for Ukraine from the U.S., its leading military donor, may run out by the end of the year if Congress does not take action.
The vote set up for Dec. 6 is expected to fail as Republicans insist on including a border security component, which has become a sticking point in negotiations between the two parties.
Democrats complain that the Republican Party's condition for approving the Ukraine aid bill takes a too draconian stance toward border security and asylum seekers.
"Right now, it seems pretty clear that we're making pretty big compromises and concessions. And Republicans aren't willing to meet us anywhere close to the middle," said Senator Chris Murphy, sitting for the Democrats.
Despite the pessimism, there appears to be a will among both parties to continue the negotiations. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, a vocal supporter of Ukraine, insisted that Republicans are "still at the table."
Some believe even a failed vote might nudge the process forward by creating a sense of urgency.
An unnamed Democratic senator told Politico that "deadlines and emergencies and last minute snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory seems to be par for the course" of negotiations like these.
In a bid to convince senators of the vote's importance, Schumer announced that Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky would address Congress' upper chamber later on Dec. 5.
Zelensky's office previously dispatched a delegation to the U.S. to meet and build relationships with Republican Party leaders ahead of the president's video appearance.
Sonya Bandouil
(Updated: )
