Photo: Global Look Press/Rod Lamkey

Bloomberg: Speaker Johnson may hold personal talks with Biden on aid to Ukraine. Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson is considering the possibility of personally discussing aid to Ukraine and the migration crisis with President Joe Biden amid protracted negotiations on the issues in the Senate. Bloomberg reported on 5 January, citing a source.

"For the time being, Johnson remains hopeful that the Senate will find an acceptable solution," the agency writes.

At the same time, Shalanda Young, the head of the US administration's Office of Management and Budget, did not support the idea of direct talks between Johnson and Biden. On Friday, 5 January, she said that instead the Republican leader in the House of Representatives should take a more active role in the Senate.

"We need to come to an agreement, not start from scratch and renegotiate," she said.

The day before, the head of the State Department's press service, Matthew Miller, said that Washington will continue to support Kiev, but the level of support will not be the same as in 2022-2023. At the same time, former adviser to US President Ronald Reagan Doug Bandow warned that the US administration has completely lost faith in Ukraine's victory.

Earlier, on January 3, White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said the aid package to Kiev announced by Washington on December 27 was the last before Congress appropriated additional funds. He specified that some of the weapons the US announced last week would be delivered to Kiev at a later date.

Western countries have increased military and financial support to Ukraine in the context of Russia's special operation to protect the Donbas, which began on 24 February 2022 due to the deterioration of the situation in the region as a result of Ukrainian shelling. At the same time, there have been increasing statements from the West recently about the need to reduce support for Kiev.

izvestia/JaV_07

https://iz.ru/1630622/2024-01-05/bloomberg-uznalo-o-vozmozhnykh-peregovorakh-spikera-dzhonsona-s-baidenom-po-ukraine