Biden administration blames Congress for fall of Ukrainian city

President Joe Biden's administration said Saturday that the Ukrainian military withdrawal from Avdiivka was the result of Congress failing to provide additional money to support Ukraine's war effort.

Ukraine ordered the withdrawal from the eastern city of Avdiivka before dawn Saturday, the country's first major battlefield loss since the fall of Bakhmut last year.

“This is the cost of congressional inaction,” said Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the National Security Council.

“The Ukrainians continue to fight bravely, but they are running low on supplies.”

The Senate passed a $60.1 billion military aid package for Ukraine last week, but the measure faces an uncertain fate in the House of Representatives, where Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated he does not intend to put it to a vote. The Biden administration has spent months pushing for additional funding, arguing that Ukraine is running out of artillery, air defense weaponry and other munitions.

Watson said the House needed to pass the Senate measure.

“It is critical that the House approve additional Ukraine funding without delay so that we can provide Ukraine with the artillery ammunition and other critical equipment they need to defend their country,” she said.

Supporters of the aid are exploring ways to force a vote on the Senate bill, which also includes aid to Israel and Taiwan as well as humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, or to create a package that might win Johnson's approval.

On Thursday, John Kirby, a senior national security official, said Ukraine's struggles in Avdiivka were the result of shortages of artillery ammunition.

The U.S. could not send additional artillery shells to Ukraine because Congress had not authorized more funding, Kirby said. As a result, Ukraine's forces were not able to successfully counter the waves of troops Russia was sending into the city.

Kirby said that without additional aid to Ukraine, the Russian advances being seen in Avdiivka would be repeated in other parts of the front. U.S. officials have also warned that by March, air defense ammunition supplies will be strained, allowing more Russian missiles and Iranian drones to hit their targets in Kyiv and other population centers.

It is not clear whether the losses in eastern Ukraine will be enough to move Republicans skeptical of sending additional funding to Kyiv. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have said they have not heard a plan for Ukraine to turn the tide on the battlefield, even if its supplies were replenished.

“This is the cost of congressional inaction. The Ukrainians continue to fight bravely, but they are running low on supplies. It is critical that the House approve additional Ukraine funding without delay so that we can provide Ukraine with the artillery ammunition and other critical equipment they need to defend their country.” — Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the National Security Council