Ukrainian politicians and officials, including the president, have been travelling to the United States in the last couple of weeks.

The visit of Ukraine's President on 11-12 December was the culmination of Kyiv's attempts to break the deadlock in approving additional financial assistance in the US.Congress. The stakes were high – $12 billion in macrofinancial aid and over $13 billion in military assistance critical to Ukraine.

However, miracles, as expected, did not happen.

Read more in the article by Oleh Pavliuk, a European Pravda journalist – For Arms and Money: Did Zelenskyy's Visit Change US Support for Ukraine?"

The circumstances of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to the US this time significantly differed from the previous year.

The current mood was accurately described by Zelenskyy himself in his speech at the US National Defense University: "When the free world hesitates, dictatorships celebrate."

There is indeed reason for dictatorships to celebrate. It is not only about the situation in the EU but also in the United States.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Zelenskyy decided to go to the US.on the same day when the Senate rejected the White House's request for over $110 billion in additional funding, including funds for Ukraine.

He had cancelled his online briefing for senators before that because their meeting to discuss assistance to Ukraine turned into a dispute over domestic politics.

So, from this perspective, the personal meeting of the President with American politicians was of utmost importance to convey Ukraine's position and be able to directly respond to allegations about monitoring US funds or the strategy of warfare in the future – the same allegations Republicans make against the White House.

The meeting, described by Zelenskyy as "friendly and candid," seems to have brought nothing new.

Could Ukraine somehow influence this situation? Probably, it would be challenging to do so without the risk of interfering in US domestic politics, a complete "red line" for bipartisan support.

Working with American citizens and explaining why to provide money to Ukraine? Perhaps, but it seems that even the White House's explanation that the vast majority of these funds are investments in the US is not working and is simply being ignored by Republicans.

All this suggests that Ukraine should be prepared for a negative scenario – restrictions or even the complete cessation of US military and financial aid.

Even if this time the Senate reaches an agreement and unblocks the White House package, there are no guarantees that similar discussions will not be bogged down in another domestic political issue in the future.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hinted at such a scenario, urging the European Union to be more proactive and not rely on the United States in making decisions about assistance to Ukraine.

Ultimately, this is beyond evident considering the possible perspective of Donald Trump as the US president in 2024.

There are currently no signs that he will not want to implement his promised 24-hour decision on "peace in Ukraine." Large-scale assistance to Kyiv is unlikely to be part of his plan.