Nearly one year ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Washington and received a hero’s welcome as his country fought back against Russia’s invasion. He received promises of support from Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle, the announcement of $1.85 billion in aid from the United States, and a promise from President Joe Biden that “the American people … will stay with you for as long as it takes.”

“You will never stand alone,” the president promised.

But on Tuesday, the Ukrainian leader found a starkly different perspective inside a divided Washington, where more aid to the country is stalled in negotiations over U.S.-Mexico border policy.

In a clear display of how the dynamics have shifted, Biden on Tuesday stood next to the Ukrainian leader at the White House and declared that “Ukraine will emerge from this war proud, free and firmly rooted in the west – unless we walk away.”

“We’ll continue to supply Ukraine with critical weapons and equipment,” he said, adding what has become a critical caveat, “as long as we can.”  

As Russia’s invasion of the country approaches its third year, additional U.S. aid to Ukraine is hanging in the balance — in large part due to a demand from Republicans that any assistance to the country be coupled with changes at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Zelenskyy on his third trip to Washington since Russia invaded, Biden painted a dire picture about the message it would send to the world if the U.S. backed out of its support for Ukraine, pointing to Republicans rejecting the Senate’s attempt to pass additional funding last week because it didn’t include substantial border policy changes. 

“The host of a Kremlin-run show literally said, and I quote, ‘well done Republicans, that's good for us,’” the president said. “If you’re being celebrated by Russian propagandists, it might be time to rethink what you’re doing.” 

The president used the brief remarks at the top of his Oval Office sit-down with Zelenskyy to urge lawmakers to pass his supplemental funding request containing billions in Ukraine aid, ensuring his Ukrainian counterpart he is calling on Congress to do “the right thing.” 

“Congress needs to pass the supplemental funding to Ukraine before they break for the holiday recess, before they give [Russian President Vladimir] Putin the greatest Christmas gift they could possibly give him,” Biden said. 

Coinciding with Zelenskyy’s visit, Biden on Tuesday announced a $200 million Defense Department drawdown of military aid for Ukraine, even as the White House blares the alarms that they are running short on funds for the war-torn country. 

At Tuesday’s press conference, Biden said he was “hopeful” about getting the additional funding passed but made sure to add he is “not making promises.” 

Despite the partisan divide, Zelenskyy started his day in Washington walking into a briefing with U.S. senators flanked side-by-side by both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., both staunch proponents of providing more aid to Ukraine.

Schumer called it a "very good and productive meeting" afterwards.

"We cannot let [Russian President Vladimir] Putin influence, through any surrogate, what we need to do for Ukraine," the New York Democrat said. "He needs the aid quickly."

In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the Ukrainian called the meeting with senators “friendly and candid.”

“I informed members of the U.S. Senate about Ukraine’s current military and economic situation, the significance of sustaining vital U.S. support, and answered their questions,” Zelenskyy wrote, adding he is grateful to Schumer and McConnell for “rallying bipartisan support for Ukraine.”

Yet, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., emerged from his individual meeting with Zelenskyy on Tuesday holding firm on his stance that any additional aid for Ukraine must be coupled with border policy changes. 

He also put the onus on the White House to provide a “clear strategy to win.”

“We need a clear articulation of a strategy to allow Ukraine to win,” Johnson said. “And thus far, their responses have been insufficient.”

Ahead of Zelenskyy’s high-stakes meetings, the White House late Monday pointed to newly declassified intelligence that shows Ukraine has inflicted heavy losses on Russia in recent fighting along the Avdiivka-Novopavlivka axis — including 13,000 casualties and over 220 combat vehicle losses. The Ukrainian holdout in the country’s partly-occupied east has been the center of some of the fiercest fighting in recent weeks.

U.S. intelligence officials have determined that the Russians think if they can achieve a military deadlock through the winter it will drain Western support for Ukraine and ultimately give Russia the advantage, despite the fact that Russians have sustained heavy losses and have been slowed by persistent shortages of trained personnel, munitions, and equipment.

“Russia is determined to press forward with its offensive despite its losses. It is more critical now than ever that we maintain our support for Ukraine so they can continue to hold the line and regain their territory,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson. She added that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is clearly watching what happens in Congress — and we need Congress to act this month to support Ukraine in its time of need.”

Republicans in Congress, fueled by Johnson’s far-right flank in the House, have taken on an increasingly isolationist stance in U.S. foreign policy, demanding changes to American border and immigration policies in exchange for any funds to battle Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Biden at Tuesday’s press conference reiterated his willingness to make “significant compromises” on border policy as he urged Democrats and Republicans to come together on a compromise to get his $106 billion national security package passed, which includes funding for Israel, Ukraine and allies in the Indo-Pacific region.

“My team is working with Senate Democrats and Republicans to try to find a bipartisan compromise both in terms of changes in policy and provide the resources we need to secure the border,” Biden said Tuesday. “Compromise is how democracy works and I am ready and offered compromise already.”

But a breakthrough in the talks -- led on either side by Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat, and Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, a Republican -- appears to be elusive.

Lankford on Monday told CNN there was “no way” those involved in working out a deal could reach an agreement before the end of the week. The key question, he said, is whether Congress stays in Washington next week to continue hashing out a deal. 

Both lawmakers said in separate interviews Sunday that talks were ongoing and a deal was certainly possible, but gave very little indication that an accord was possible.

Speaking on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Schumer said he spoke with Johnson last night and asked him to keep the House in session “to give the supplemental a chance to come together.”

“If Republicans are serious about getting something done on the border, then why are so many of them in such a hurry to leave for the winter break?” Schumer said. “Has the border simply been an excuse to kill funding for Ukraine?”

In an interview on The Hugh Hewitt Show Tuesday, Johnson indicated he doesn’t want to keep lawmakers in town if border negotiations are far off. 

“I’m not going to have everybody sit here through Christmas twiddling their thumbs. They’ve not sent me anything,” Johnson said, referring to the Senate. 

McConnell told reporters Tuesday it will be “practically impossible” to pass the supplemental before Christmas given it still has to go through a vote in the Senate and House even if an agreement on border policy is reached, noting the House could be out of town. He urged Biden to get more involved in talks directly. 

Zelenskyy, who visited Washington just months ago in September when the aid package was first being considered, is making his third trip to the Capitol since the war broke out in February 2022.

His surprise arrival days before Christmas last December was Zelenskyy’s first wartime trip out of Ukraine and he received thunderous applause in Congress. Lawmakers sported the blue-and-yellow colors of Ukraine, and Zelenskyy, delivering a speech that drew on the parallels to World War II as he thanked Americans for their support, presented the country’s flag signed by frontline troops to then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

But 2023 brought a new power center of hard-right Republicans, many aligned with Donald Trump, the former president who is now the GOP frontrunner in the 2024 race for the White House.

New Speaker Johnson, on the job since October when Republicans ousted their previous leader Kevin McCarthy, has spoken publicly in favor of aiding Ukraine, as has Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. But it’s not certain they can steer an aid package through the House’s right flank.

Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Zelenskyy has an opportunity to impress on Johnson in their private talk “the moral clarity and why is Ukraine important.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.