Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday that he has not yet promised that he will support the allocation of a new tranche of $24 billion to Ukraine in 2023, while Senate Speaker Chuck Schumer believes that assistance to Kyiv should not be stopped.

According to CNN, Republican McCarthy said he "had a productive meeting with Zelenskyy" at the Capitol. He added that, despite this, he would not promise to advance aid to Ukraine for approval by Congress by the end of the year, noting that his priority now is domestic U.S. spending.

"Look, we've got to get our fiscal house taken care of here in America," McCarthy told reporters.

According to McCarthy, at a meeting with Zelenskyy he raised issues related to the control of funds already sent to Ukraine. The Speaker of the House also said he was asked to hold a joint meeting of Congress with Zelenskyy, but he refused because, according to him, due to the busy schedule of Congress, there is no time for such speeches now.

Bloomberg, in turn, reports that Democrat Schumer, after a meeting with the Ukrainian leader, said that in his opinion, Congress should not stop aid to Ukraine.

The media note that many Republicans doubt whether it is necessary to approve the next round of financing for Kyiv. Thus, according to The New York Times, during Zelenskyy's communication with congressmen, a group of Republicans who oppose further funding for Ukraine sent a letter to the White House saying that the administration's request for $24 billion for Ukraine is "doomed to fail." This letter was authored, among others, by Ohio Senator James David Vance and Representative Chip Roy of Texas.

According to CNN, the White House previously said there was a "critical need" for Congress to approve Ukraine's funding request.

Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Republican Michael McCaul, in turn, said that, as Zelenskyy told Congress, "Ukraine's two biggest military needs were air cover and tactical missile systems known as ATACMS." However, the day before, Western media, citing an unnamed American official, said U.S. President Joe Biden was going to announce a $325 million military aid package to Ukraine later on Thursday, which apparently would not include ATACMS missiles.

Earlier this week, McCarthy already stated that he was not ready to promise Zelenskyy new funding and would like to know what exactly the American assistance is going for.

The intraparty fight is intensifying as we approach the September 30 deadline for Congress to approve fiscal 2024 government funding measures to avoid a federal government shutdown in October.