Senate leaders agreed that Congress would end the year without approving the $61 billion relief package that Kyiv and the White House had insisted on.
“Our negotiators will be working very, very hard during the December and January recess, and our goal is to get something done as soon as we get back,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters.
The No. 2 Senate Republican, John Thune, also said an agreement would not be reached until early January. “Democrats have stalled to such an extent that reaching a meaningful border security agreement before Christmas is impossible,” he told the Senate.
In a joint statement, Schumer and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said negotiators were “making encouraging progress” but “tough issues remain.”
Earlier, the White House warned that American aid would end due to a lack of funding by the end of this year.
The Biden administration’s request for another $61 billion in support for Ukraine has been blocked in Congress. Republicans are pushing to link it to tighter immigration controls at the US-Mexico border. Funding for Israel, another element of the package, is less controversial.
Immigration is one of the most divisive issues in American politics, and bipartisan reform efforts have repeatedly failed over the past 20 years.
“I cannot express how difficult this issue is. This is the most difficult area of American legislation,” said Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent candidate involved in the negotiations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky faced skepticism from Republicans when he visited Washington last week in an attempt to win support from U.S. lawmakers. This was his third trip to the US capital over the past year.
It is unclear whether the agreement reached in the Democratic-majority Senate will gain traction in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where a significant number of lawmakers oppose more funds for Ukraine.
January will also mark the start of state-by-state GOP presidential nominating primaries as lawmakers negotiate the annual budget in an attempt to avoid a partial government shutdown.
