U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson stated that there is “no appetite” for passing a new aid package for Ukraine while speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on February 20, Reuters reported.
“There’s no appetite for that,” Johnson said when asked, drawing boos from the audience, about the possibility of another Ukraine funding bill. He added that he did not foresee additional aid if the war continued for several more months.
“We have to bring [the war] to an end. And I can tell you that our European allies understand the necessity as well. It’s [dragged] on too long,” Johnson said. “It’s time for it to end, and he [Trump] is the brute force, I think, that can make that happen.”
Johnson dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call to be included in the negotiations as “complaining.”
On February 17, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine would not recognize any agreements concerning Ukraine made without its involvement.
“I mean, what Trump’s trying to do is… put the conditions in place for that real negotiation to happen and we’ve got to allow him to do what he does,” Johnson added.
On February 19, Trump referred to Zelenskyy as a “dictator,” and questioned his democratic legitimacy. Several European leaders expressed their disagreement with these claims.
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