A Ukrainian commander has said that the country is scaling back its military operation against Russia due to a lack of foreign assistance
Frontline soldiers face shortages of artillery shells and have halted battlefield attacks in some areas because of a lack of foreign assistance, according to Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi.
He was speaking after Republican lawmakers held up a $60bn (£47bn) US package and Hungary blocked €50bn (£43bn) in EU funding for Kyiv.
He said: "There’s a problem with ammunition, especially post-Soviet (shells) – that’s 122 mm, 152 mm. And today these problems exist across the entire frontline …"The volumes that we have today are not sufficient for us today, given our needs. So, we’re redistributing it. We’re re-planning tasks that we had set for ourselves and making them smaller because we need to provide for them."
Tarnavskyi added that the shortage of artillery shells was a significant issue for Ukraine, but also noted that Russian forces faced ammunition supply problems.
The Senate in the US is going into recess for the holiday season with no decision made on the aid package.
President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Washington trying to persuade Congress to pass a $60bn aid package that has stalled amid a row over US border security.
On Sunday, Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenska, warned Ukraine is in mortal danger without continuing American support.
Meanwhile Viktor Orbán must not be allowed to take the EU “hostage”, Emmanuel Macron has said, after the Hungarian prime minister blocked a €50bn EU aid package for Ukraine in the early hours of Friday.
The European Union is to hold an extraordinary summit on February 1 to sort out its budget including billions more for Ukraine.
European Council President Charles Michel said the special summit would aim to settle revisions to its multi-annual budget.
"We understood on Thursday and Friday that a bit more time is needed with Hungary in order to make a decision by unanimity, which is needed for an agreement on the MFF (Multi-annual Financial Framework) review," Michel said at a joint news conference with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
Michel said that, besides funding for Ukraine, the 27-nation EU also had proposals to provide more financial support to address migration, to cover natural disasters and for security and defence.
Belgium will take over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU from Spain on January 1.
