Ukrainian President Zelensky makes plea for US aid

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky goes to Congress and the White House on Tuesday to press for more US military aid in battling the Russian invasion, but the Republican Party shows little sign of listening to his increasingly desperate pleas.

For much of the nearly two years that Ukraine has resisted President Vladimir Putin's onslaught, the United States has led a Western coalition sending billions of dollars in weaponry and ammunition.

But Republicans are ever-more openly rejecting the need to fund Ukraine, saying that President Joe Biden needs to devote more attention to domestic security, particularly to stopping illegal migration over the US-Mexican border.

The Republicans are also questioning whether Ukraine should keep fighting at all.

Zelensky, who arrived fresh from a diplomatic push with world leaders at the inauguration of Argentine President Javier Milei over the weekend, will meet Biden at the White House. They will also hold a joint press conference.

Biden is a key supporter of Zelensky, framing the Ukrainian war effort as part of a global struggle between democracies and aggressive autocracies.

But on Capitol Hill, Zelensky will face his real test when he addresses Republican and Democratic senators, and meets the new Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.

In a speech on Monday at the National Defense University in Washington, Zelensky said that politics should not "betray" Ukraine's soldiers and he echoed Biden in saying that the struggle had global implications.

"When the free world hesitates, that's when dictatorships celebrate and their most dangerous ambitions ripen," he said. "They see their dreams come true when they see delays."

"Putin must lose," he said.

Zelensky also met the heads of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank as he seeks to shore up his nation's beleaguered economy.

The IMF announced the release of a new $900 million tranche in an ongoing long-term loan.

Agence France-Presse