US President Joe Biden has urged lawmakers in Congress to keep financial aid to Ukraine flowing, hours after a last-minute budget deal stripped funding for the country.
Biden, in remarks delivered at the White House on Sunday, sought to reassure nervous US allies and the leadership in Kiev.
He said there was still "overwhelming" support among Democrats and Republicans for Ukraine, which has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion for 19 months.
"Let's be clear: I hope my friends on the other side keep their word about support for Ukraine," Biden said of the Republicans. "We cannot, under any circumstances, allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted."
"I want to assure our American allies, the American people and the people of Ukraine that you can count on our support. We will not walk away."
Addressing Republicans in Congress, Biden said: "Stop playing games. Get this done."
The deeply polarized US Congress averted a government shutdown going into effect on Sunday by passing a last-minute bill to keep federal funding flowing for the next 45 days.
But in order to get the stopgap measure through Congress, additional aid for Ukraine was dropped. Far-right Republicans in particular have increasingly voiced resistance to allocating more money for Ukraine.
In a potential workaround, Biden said he wants to quickly get a separate Ukraine funding bill before lawmakers.
