Joe Biden will meet with congressional leaders, Republicans and Democrats, at the White House today to discuss his months-long request to fund more US military aid to Ukraine and Israel, his spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The US president will welcome the head of the Democratic majority in the Senate Chuck Schumer, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, other leaders of the parliamentary groups of the two parties, as well as the chairmen of parliamentary committees.

The aid request, which also included funds to strengthen border security with Mexico, should be a “priority” for Congress, Karin Jean-Pierre said during a briefing for accredited editors yesterday.

Mr Biden is calling for €100 billion in funding to continue providing military aid to Ukraine and Israel, to support Taiwan, and to strengthen the federal police agency responsible for guarding the border and immigrants at the US-Mexico border.

Unless Congress passes the new funding, the US—Kiev’s main backer—cannot provide it with additional military equipment or financial aid.

The package of US military aid to Ukraine announced on December 27 was “the last” given the approved funding and “no more is being prepared”, the spokesman for the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, reminded in the same press briefing at the presidency .

However, for Mrs. Jean-Pierre, the negotiations on the issue are moving “in the right direction”.

Republicans demand a toughening of Washington’s policy on immigration, which is a necessary condition for them to approve additional military aid to Ukraine; the most extreme of them, however, want to stop aid to Kiev in any case.

The issue is delicate for Democratic President Biden, who is campaigning as he seeks re-election in November.

He promised more “humanity” than his Republican predecessor Donald Trump in the face of a surge in arrivals at the US/Mexico border.

US military aid is crucial to Ukraine, but in the US, as elsewhere, the problem of “fatigue” of political staff and public opinion seems to be magnified as the war with Russia appears to be stuck in quicksand.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking yesterday Tuesday at the Davos forum, asked the West to continue its support in Kiev to fend off the “predator” that is, according to him, the Russian counterpart of Vladimir Putin.