Biden will make case to Trump's team for Ukraine aid to continue

President Joe Biden will argue in favor of continued U.S. aid to Ukraine during the transition to President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, according to Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser at the White House.

“President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine,” Sullivan said on CBS’s "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

Trump’s election victory and Republican control of potentially both houses of Congress raise questions about the future of U.S. aid for Ukraine to defend against Russia’s invasion. Trump pledged during his campaign to bring about a swift end to the war, without specifying what steps that would involve.

Russia has massed 50,000 soldiers, including North Korean troops, in preparation for an attack seeking to reclaim territory gained by Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk region, the New York Times reported Sunday, citing U.S. and Ukrainian officials.

The Biden administration and Congress, including divided Republicans in the Senate, have maintained a pipeline of military aid to Ukraine since President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022. The U.S. has committed more than $60 billion in security assistance to Ukraine under the administration, according to the Pentagon.

Senator Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee who consistently voted against aid to Ukraine, said Trump’s victory signaled that Americans are weary of providing that assistance.

“We need to focus on our own issues first,” he said on "Face the Nation." “This is what the American people spoke up and wanted us to do.”

In contrast, Biden “will make the case that we need ongoing resources for Ukraine beyond the end of his term, because the threat to Ukraine will remain no matter what exactly happens on the battlefield or at the negotiating table, and the United States should not walk away from its commitment,” Sullivan said.

Biden plans to host Trump at the White House on Nov. 13 for their first post-election meeting.

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