The White House is stressing Congressional action is needed to pass a security funding bill to address the "dire" situation in Ukraine.

National Security Council Communications adviser John Kirby said Ukrainian troops were "making some real tough decisions about what they're going to shoot at and what they're going to shoot at it with, and they're running out of bullets."

"They are certainly beginning to lose territory," Kirby told reporters.

Asked at what point the White House declared the supplemental deal dead, Kirby said the funds were needed now and their lack was having an impact on the battlefield.

"We're already, in some ways too late," he said.

Kirby's comments came after President Joe Biden implored the top four leaders of Congress Tuesday to act quickly to avoid a looming government shutdown early next month and to pass emergency aid for Ukraine and Israel, as a legislative logjam in the GOP-led House showed no signs of abating.

Biden hosted House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in the Oval Office along with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Republicans in the House have thus far refused to bring up the $95 billion national security package that bolsters aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific. That measure cleared the Senate on a bipartisan 70-29 vote this month, but Johnson has resisted scheduling it for a vote in the House.

Kirby also reiterated Biden's insistence that no U.S. troops would serve on the ground in Ukraine.

European military heavyweights Germany and Poland affirmed Tuesday that they would not be sending troops to Ukraine, after reports that some Western countries may be considering doing so as the war with Russia enters its third year.

The head of NATO also said the U.S.-led military alliance has no plans to send troops to Ukraine, after other central European leaders confirmed that they too would not be providing soldiers.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, warned that a direct conflict between NATO and Russia would be inevitable if the alliance sends combat troops. “In this case, we need to talk not about probability, but about the inevitability (of conflict),” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Moscow's warning came a day after French President Emmanuel Macron said that sending in Western ground troops should not be “ruled out” in the future, after hosting a conference of top officials from more than 20 of Ukraine's Western backers.

#usa #russia #ukraine #russiaukrainewar
n18oc_world n18oc_crux

CRUX is your daily video news guide to the big events that are shaping our world. We track news, geopolitics, diplomacy and defence strategies and explain how they shape national policies. Crux makes sense of global developments, and analyses their impact on daily lives.

Follow CRUX on Telegram: https://bit.ly/3fnlLua
Follow CRUX on Instagram (@crux.india): https://bit.ly/3qSFx1K
Follow CRUX on Facebook: https://bit.ly/2Lte7iF
#GetCloserToTheNews with latest headlines on politics, sports and entertainment on news18.com https://bit.ly/2Y4QccL

Also watch:
Crux Decode: https://bit.ly/3MjzIoG
Crux+ : https://bit.ly/35mm97B
Crux Most Watched: https://bit.ly/3KhJ8iX