Kyiv will work with the US to ensure funding for Ukraine is included in new budget, spokesperson says

Kyiv is working with American partners to ensure that a new US budget decision, which will be worked on over the next 45 days, will include funds to help Ukraine, a Ukrainian government spokesperson said Sunday.

A stopgap spending measure signed late Saturday averted a US federal government shutdown, but crucially did not include new funding for the war-torn country.

A shutdown would have a negative impact on the implementation of current programs for Ukraine, foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said in a statement posted to Facebook on Sunday.

Nikolenko voiced confidence that support for Ukraine remains unwaveringly strong in President Joe Biden's administration, and in both parties and both chambers of the US Congress. Most importantly, the Ukrainian spokesperson said, support remains strong among the American people. 

Remember: The stopgap US funding bill will keep the government open through mid-November, when a new deal will be needed.

More background: Bipartisan members of Senate leadership released a joint statement Saturday committing to vote on further funding for Ukraine aid "in the coming weeks."

So far, Congress has approved about $113 billion in aid to Ukraine, according to calculations by the US State Department Office of Inspector General and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Multiple recent surveys suggest Republicans would like to see the US scale back its support of Ukraine.

Much of the public overall continues to favor actions such as sanctions against Russia and help with Ukrainian intelligence gathering.

A CNN poll released earlier this summer charted growing Republican opposition to aid in Ukraine, and found 55% of the full public opposed to Congress authorizing more funding to support Ukraine, rising to 71% among Republicans. A majority of the public overall did favor some specific forms of aid, such as help with intelligence gathering (63% support) and military training (53% support).