The US Senate is putting off its Christmas recess for a shot on voting on military aid for Israel and for Ukraine. Ukraine's president has been globetrotting this week, with stops that included Washington, where Volodymyr Zelensky lobbied senators as well as the pro-Trump speaker of the House of Representatives.
Mike Johnson is holding out for domestic border control reform. To keep Kyiv's financial lifeline alive, Zelensky travelled all the way to Buenos Aires for last Sunday's inauguration of Argentina's new populist president, Javier Milei, but the main reason was to lobby Viktor Orban ahead of a crucial EU summit.
In the end, Hungary's prime minister left the room to abstain when fellow leaders approved the start of membership negotiations for Ukraine and Moldova.
But despite the European Commission unfreezing €10 billion in funds for Budapest, held up over Hungary's rule of law issues, it was still a no to a four-year, €50-billion aid package for Kyiv.