(Washington) The head of the US Senate Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday that he “hopes” that an agreement will be found soon on an envelope for Ukraine, much debated in Congress, but crucial for this country at war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Washington on Tuesday to increase pressure on the American ally, who is currently struggling with the $61 billion increase demanded by Joe Biden.
Democrats are in favor of this envelope.
The Republicans are, apart from a handful of elected officials from the radical right, not totally opposed to it. But in exchange for their vote, they demand a major tightening of United States immigration policy, at the heart of many negotiations.
“Negotiations continue today between Democrats, Republicans and the Biden administration,” said Senator Chuck Schumer. He reported “great progress” in discussions after a meeting Tuesday afternoon.
“I hope that we can reach an agreement soon so that this extension is adopted by the Senate,” he said from the hemicycle.
The tougher measures envisaged in American migration policy, however, are not to everyone’s taste, with the powerful civil rights association ACLU describing these measures as “fanciful”.
American elected officials only have until Friday – when the parliamentary recess begins – to reach a compromise on the new envelope. Senators could, however, in theory be recalled from their constituencies if a text were to be put on the table.
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, also a big supporter of aid to Ukraine, also wanted to be confident on Wednesday.
“I am hopeful that we will reach an agreement,” he assured.
To be definitively adopted, this text would however have to be approved by the other chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives. Its leader Mike Johnson wanted to be much more cautious about the possibility of an agreement.
“What the Biden administration seems to want is billions of additional dollars without adequate supervision, without a real strategy for victory,” he asserted after his interview with Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday.