The Kremlin said Thursday that it hopes U.S. lawmakers will continue to block White House requests for emergency aid to Ukraine amid a funding row between Republicans and Democrats over border security issues.
Republican senators earlier blocked $106 billion in emergency aid primarily for Ukraine and Israel as conservatives balked at the exclusion of immigration reforms they had demanded as part of the package.
“Hopefully, there are still enough people with sober minds among American congressmen,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
He accused the White House of attempting to “groom American senators” and trying to “scorch the money of American citizens in the furnace of the Ukrainian war.”
The Kremlin has said the end of U.S. weapons deliveries for Ukraine is a prerequisite for peace talks.
President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Ukraine’s military would collapse after a week without Western backing.
Biden has led the global coalition backing Kyiv, but support has been waning among Republicans in Congress, and the administration has warned that it will run out of money for more Ukraine aid in weeks unless lawmakers act.
