U.S. Senate leader Schumer, in Ukraine, urges House speaker to help pass aid bill
(Reuters) - After meeting Ukraine's president, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday urged the House of Representatives speaker to "do the right thing" and help pass a stalled bill that would fund aid to Kyiv in its war against Russia.
Schumer was part of a delegation of five Democratic senators that held talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on the eve of the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of its neighbour.
"We have been told by President Zelenskiy, we have been told by American and Ukrainian officials ... that without the aid Ukraine will lose the war," Schumer told a news conference.
"We are here to talk directly to Speaker (Mike) Johnson. We are going to do all we can to tell him what we have learned and, frankly, pressure him to do the right thing."
The Senate last week passed a $95.34 billion military aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. President Joe Biden has urged the House to approve it, but Johnson sent members home for a two-week recess without bringing the measure up for a vote.
On Friday, House aides said Democrats had begun laying the groundwork for a potential bid to sidestep Johnson and force a vote on the security assistance package.
Johnson is an ally of Republican former President Donald Trump and voted against assisting Ukraine before he became speaker.
Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address issued after the talks, said the aid package was "fundamental to our defence both in terms of its contents and the message it sends to the world".
(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
