Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba speaks during a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (not pictured) following their talks in Kyiv, Ukraine September 11, 2023. Efrem Lukatsky/Pool via REUTERS
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's top diplomat said on Monday Washington's support for Kyiv was not weakening, and played down the significance of a stopgap funding bill passed by U.S. Congress that omitted aid to Ukraine.
U.S. and other Western military assistance has been vital for Ukraine to fight back against the full-scale invasion launched by Russia in February 2022.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv was in talks with Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress, and that the drama around the stopgap bill that averted a government shutdown on Saturday was an "incident" rather than something systemic.
"We don't feel that the U.S support has been shattered... because the United States understands that what is at stake in Ukraine is much bigger than just Ukraine," he told reporters as he greeted European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Kyiv.
"It's about the stability and predictability of the world and therefore I believe we will be able to find necessary solutions."
Kuleba said the question was whether what happened in the U.S. Congress at the weekend was "an incident or a system".
"I think it was an incident," he said. "We have a very in-depth discussion with both parts of the Congress - Republicans and Democrats. And against the background of the potential shutdown, the decision was taken as it was.
"But we are now working with both sides of the Congress to make sure that it does not (get) repeat(ed) again under any circumstances," he said.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Tom Balmforth; editing by Timothy Heritage)
