Biden meets Zelensky, says he has signed $200 million emergency aid drawdown

United States President Joe Biden reportedly said that he had signed a $200 million emergency aid drawdown as he met visiting Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday (Dec 12). Biden also said it would be a "Christmas gift" to Russia's Vladimir Putin if Congress failed to pass fresh military aid for Kyiv.Biden added that he "will not walk away from Ukraine".

While speaking in the Oval Office at the White House, Biden said to Zelensky that "we are going to stand at your side" despite the fact that Republicans have blocked a new $60 billion package of assistance for war-torn Ukraine.The US president said he has just signed "another $200 million drawdown from the Department of Defense for Ukraine”.

Meanwhile, Zelensky told Biden that his country could still win the war. He said that Ukraine's troops "prove every day that Ukraine can win".Zelensky arrived at the White House for talks with Biden about continued US military aid amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Earlier, he met with congressional leaders.

Zelensky said that he was waiting for results, but also admitted that he had received "positive" signals from Congress on his military aid request.

"I got the signals," Zelensky told reporters at the White House following his meetings with members of Congress and President Joe Biden. He further noted, "They were more than positive. But we know that we have to separate words and particular results. Therefore we will count on particular results."

However, after theUkrainian president addressed members of the Senate in a closed 90-minute meeting,key Republicans repeated their demands for acrackdown on immigration that they havesought between the US and Mexico border as a part of Biden's bill which would provide funding for both Ukraine and Israel.

After Zelensky's meeting,South Carolina SenatorLindsey Graham told reporters that he had told the Ukrainian president that their problem was "nothing to do with you". He added, "I said, 'You've done everything anybody could ask of you. This is not your problem here'".

What is a drawdown?

According to the US State Department website, a drawdown is the "use of the Presidential Drawdown Authority to direct a drawdown to provide military assistance under section 506(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) is a valuable tool of US foreign policy in crisis situations".

It added that a drawdown "allows for the speedy delivery of defense articles and services from Department of Defense stocks to foreign countries and international organizations to respond to unforeseen emergencies". The US State Department website further added that such assistance can begin arriving within days – or even hours – of approval.

Watch: What is the cost of the Ukraine war?

Russia-Ukraine war latest

Citing a declassified US intelligence assessment shared with Congress, a congressional source told CNN Tuesday that some 315,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in Ukraine since the war began last year in February. The figure is nearly 90 per cent of its pre-war force.

The source further noted that the Russian military has also lost some 2,200 of the 3,500 tanks it had before the start of the conflict.

The most recent fatality estimate is a significant difference from the data released in July 2022, when CIA Director Bill Burns stated that US intelligence projected Russian casualties to be "in the vicinity of 15,000 killed and possibly three times that wounded".

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on Ukraine-Russia war on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos

(With inputs from agencies)