Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called off a high-profile

briefing with US lawmakers amid an impasse over future US funding

for the country.
Virtual appearances in the Senate and House had been scheduled for
Tuesday, but were cancelled at the last moment.
It came after a top Ukrainian official warned they are in danger of losing
the war against Russia if more US military aid is not approved.
Senate leader Chuck Schumer did not explain why Mr Zelensky was a
no-show.
The chamber's top Democrat said the Ukrainian president was occupied
with a "last-minute" matter, without providing further detail.
The Ukrainian leader was due to appear by video at a classified briefing
of senators by top US officials. The meeting proceeded but discussions
about the aid package soon descended into chaos.
Mr Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said earlier on Tuesday
there was a "big risk" of Ukrainian defeat without continued US
support.
"It will be difficult to keep in [the] same positions and for the people to
really survive," he added, in a speech at the US Institute of Peace in
Washington DC.
Mr Yermak's dire assessment was given just hours before Mr Zelensky
pulled out.
Ukraine's embassy in Washington DC did not immediately respond to a
BBC question asking for further explanation for the cancellation.
It comes on the heels of a renewed push by the White House for
additional support for Ukraine. The US Congress, however, is still not
close to a deal on a compromise spending package that would help
fund the war effort.
"We are out of money - and nearly out of time," wrote Shalanda Young,
the White House budget director, in a letter to Republican and
Democratic leaders published on Monday.
She warned that a failure by Congress to approve more military aid to
Ukraine before the end of the year would "kneecap" the nation in its
fight against Russia and that there was no "magic pot of funding" left to
draw from.
On Monday, however, the Republican Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Mike Johnson, seemed dismissive of the latest pleas to
provide tens of billions of dollars more in funding.
"The Biden Administration has failed to substantively address any of my
conference's legitimate concerns about the lack of a clear strategy in
Ukraine, a path to resolving the conflict, or a plan for adequately
ensuring accountability for aid provided by American taxpayers," he
wrote on social media.
The funding impasse comes as fighting on the frontlines appears to
have reached a practical stalemate.
Ukraine's much anticipated counter-offensive in the south appears to
have slowed down, while Kyiv's forces are struggling to maintain a
foothold they had established on the east bank of the vast Dnipro
river.