Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, wants a personal meeting with President Joe Biden before proceeding with the provision of an additional package of aid to Ukraine and Israel.
This was reported by NBC News with reference to a source close to Johnson.
Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, and his staff have requested a meeting with President Biden through senior White House officials several times in the past two months, the source said, after Johnson's trip last month to the U.S. border in Eagle Pass, Texas.
The latest meeting request came just over a week ago, days before the Senate passed a bipartisan USD 95 billion package of national security legislation and House Republicans impeached United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, it said.
Johnson's request for a meeting was not necessarily about the Senate's version of additional aid but rather about the general path forward for the legislative package.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Republican, said Tuesday that Biden "refuses" to meet with Johnson.
"At the end of the day, they both could come to an agreement that could become law. And yet the President refuses even to meet. So, the President can't say he's serious about Ukraine or the border when he refuses to meet with the speaker so they can come to an agreement on this issue," Scalise said.
A White House official pointed to what the administration described as Johnson's inconsistency on the border, saying he needs to finish negotiating with himself and stop putting national security needs in the name of politics.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the U.S. Senate's vote on the bill on international aid, which provides for an allocation of USD 60 billion for Ukraine. He noted that Ukraine now expects a positive decision on this bill from the House of Representatives.
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