Biden vows Ukraine support, urges Republicans to stop 'games'

President Joe Biden has vowed the United States would not abandon Ukraine despite aid being dropped from a deal to avoid a government shutdown, urging Republicans to "stop the games" on funding.

"I want to assure our American allies, the American people and the people in Ukraine that you can count on our support. We will not walk away," Biden said in an address from the White House on Sunday.

Biden said there was an "overwhelming sense of urgency" to get Congress to pass a new package of assistance to Ukraine in the days and weeks to come as it battles the Russian offensive.

An 11th-hour deal by Congress late on Saturday to avoid a US government shutdown contained no new war-time aid for Ukraine as part of a compromise between Republicans and Democrats.

Democrat Biden lashed out at Republicans and called on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to avoid another shutdown drama when the 45-day stopgap deal agreed on Saturday runs out.

"I'm sick and tired of the brinksmanship," Biden said, speaking from the Roosevelt Room at the White House.

"The brinksmanship has to end. There shouldn't be another crisis."

Nearly half of House Republicans voted to strip $300M from a defense spending bill to train Ukrainian soldiers and purchase weapons. The money later was approved separately, but opponents of Ukraine support celebrated their growing numbers.

Then, on Saturday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., omitted additional Ukraine aid from a measure to keep the government running until November 17. In doing so, he closed the door on a Senate package that would have funneled $6B to Ukraine, roughly one-third of what has been requested by the White House.

Both the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the stopgap measure, with members of both parties abandoning the increased aid for Ukraine in favor of avoiding a costly government shutdown.

Biden said that deal was made to keep the government running and he worked to reassure US allies additional funding would be there.

“Look at me,” he said turning his face to the cameras at the White House. “We’re going to get it done. I can’t believe those who voted for supporting Ukraine -- overwhelming majority in the House and Senate, Democrat and Re publican -- will for pure political reasons let more people die needlessly in Ukraine.”

The exclusion of Ukraine funding came little more than a week after politicians met in the Capitol with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who sought to assure politicians that his military was winning the war, but stressed that additional aid would be crucial for continuing the fight.

The US has approved four rounds of aid to Ukraine in response to Russia’s attack, totaling about $113B, with some of that money going toward replenishment of US military equipment that was sent to the front lines. In August, Biden called on Congress to provide for an additional $24B.