Biden will meet with speaker and congressional leaders to approve aid for Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden plans to meet at the White House on Tuesday, February 27, with congressional leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, in an effort to resolve billions of dollars in emergency aid for Ukraine and avoid a possible shutdown, Bloomberg reports.

Biden will "discuss the urgency of passing a bipartisan amendment to the National Security and Government Retention Act," according to the White House's weekly schedule published on Sunday.

Johnson's office confirmed that the speaker plans to attend the meeting.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will also attend the meeting, according to an aide to the congressman.

Hardline Republicans did not support Biden's request for more than USD 60 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the U.S. House of Representatives decided to go on recess until February 28. The draft law on financial assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan was never voted on. Parliament Speaker Johnson never put the package to a vote.

On February 14, NBC News reported that Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson wants a personal meeting with President Joe Biden before proceeding with providing an additional package of aid to Ukraine and Israel.

On February 12, the U.S. Senate voted to end the debate on the text of the draft law, which provides for the allocation of aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.

Before that, Mike Johnson said that he would not vote on the USD 118 billion border security bill presented in the Senate, which also provides aid to Ukraine and Israel.