Too late for us to worry, Zelenskyy says of US aid delays

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was assured of Kyiv’s full support during his visit to the United States last month, he said on Thursday as further US assistance to Ukraine is in limbo after the ouster of House speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Mr McCarthy was ousted following a dissent from the far-right wing in his Republican party, which accused the speaker of a ‘secret deal’ with the White House to give aid to Ukraine—something they have vehemently opposed.

Mr McCarthy also oversaw the passing of a temporary short-term budget resolution, which does not provide for Ukraine aid, with Democratic support, angering his more radical Republican peers.

"We stopped worrying in the first days of the great war. I think it's too late for us to worry," Mr Zelenskyy told journalists in Granada, Spain, where he is attending the European political community summit.

"I was in Washington, I met with President Biden, I heard about the absolute support of the White House, as well as bipartisan support in Congress," he added.

The Ukrainian president admitted the US was going through a "difficult election period".

"There are different voices and some voices are very strange. We will talk about this today..

The House of Representatives will not be able to approve new aid to Ukraine until it elects a new speaker, which has caused worrying in Kyiv.

The US is by far the largest donor of military and financial support for Ukraine, having provided approximately USD 45 billion in military equipment since Russia’s full-scale invasion last February.

The Pentagon has warned it is running out of money to plan for further donations, with only USD 1.6 billion left of the USD 25.9 billion Congress provided to replenish US military stocks that have been flowing to Ukraine.