Politico: Zelensky Gave Johnson Deadline

The speaker of the US House of Representatives took an important decision after this.

A 2023 December meeting between the Speaker of the US House of Representatives and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky influenced Johnson’s decision to approve military aid for Ukraine, after all, the Ukrainian president explained how much longer the Ukrainian Armed Forces would be able to resist the Russians without US support.

This was reported by Politico, citing its own anonymous sources.

Zelensky and Johnson huddled in the speaker’s office in December. According to the sources of the publication, Zelensky made it clear just how much longer his country could hold out against a renewed onslaught of Russian missiles and drones.

“March or April,” the president said.

The December meeting and the bleak prognosis contributed greatly to Johnson’s decision to go against his conservative colleagues and come to the aid of Ukraine with a $60 billion aid package.

“Most importantly, it provided Johnson with a deadline — one the speaker took on as his own for the Ukraine aid package. Johnson hit that deadline with just a little over a week to spare,” stated in the material.

It was the meeting with Zelensky, according to Politico sources, that forced Johnson, using his position as speaker, to promote the provision of more weapons to Ukraine.

“They needed the ammunition and they needed the hardware so they could actually keep fighting,” a person familiar with the situation told Politico.

The task to prepare legislation and a pathway forward fell to Josh Hodges, Johnson’s national security adviser. Hodges was one of the office’s most instrumental advocates for sending aid to Ukraine, and also had great influence on Johnson.

“The speaker would hear advice from others in his office that he should not move forward with the assistance, or only back aid for Israel. But Hodges, among other voices, argued that the U.S. had an opportunity to stand up to a growing axis between Russia, China and Iran in a way that was both immediate and cost-effective,” Politico notes.