Scholz to meet with Biden in US to discuss aid to Ukraine

Washington, Jan 27 (IANS) German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Washington in the first half of February and meet with US President Joe Biden to discuss the two leaders' efforts to provide additional support to Ukraine, media sources reported.

A bilateral meeting between Scholz and Biden is planned to be held at the White House during the second week of February, Bloomberg's sources noted as reported by European Pravda on Friday.

The meeting is being planned at a time when the US presidential administration's emergency request for $61 billion is stuck in Congress as Republicans demand significant concessions on immigration policy.

Meanwhile, the EU is holding a special summit next week to agree on an additional €50 billion package of support for Kiev.

Scholz has called on European countries to increase arms supplies to Ukraine, fearing that US aid could stop.

Earlier, it was reported that the German Chancellor wants to use the EU summit on February 1 to urge its allies to send more weapons to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reiterated that he was confident that the US Congress would approve supplemental funding for Ukraine despite the differences between the two parties on the issue of migration.

Prior to this, the White House said that a decision on assistance to Ukraine must be made as soon as possible, as the next few months would be critical.