WATCH: Biden calls for bipartisan immigration compromise, not 'holding Ukraine funding hostage'

President Joe Biden accused congressional Republicans of stalling funding for Ukraine in order to force through strict border security changes.

“Compromise is how democracy works,” Biden said. “Holding Ukraine funding hostage in the attempt to force through an extreme Republican partisan agenda on the border is not how it works.”

During a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, Biden reaffirmed his support of Ukraine in its war with Russia, despite the current roadblock. The president asserted that not only is Ukraine’s freedom on the line, but the “freedom of everyone almost everywhere.”

“Putin will keep going, and would-be aggressors everywhere will be emboldened to try to take what they can by force,” he said.

Zelenskyy is visiting Washington as he seeks additional support for his country’s efforts to fend off the ongoing Russian invasion. Earlier in the day, he met with both Republican and Democratic congressional leaders.

Biden has asked lawmakers to approve an additional $110 billion U.S. aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other national security priorities. But his plan is at serious risk of collapse in Congress, as Republicans are insisting on linking it to strict U.S.-Mexico border security changes that Democrats don’t support.

Out of the new $110 billion national security package, $61.4 billion would go toward Ukraine, with about half of that sum going for weapons and the remainder for humanitarian assistance.

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