 In US Senate, an intense struggle is starting over the issue of Ukraine. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is stepping up his personal efforts to secure a deal on border reform and aid for Ukraine and Israel, which colleagues are characterising as a major test of his leadership according to The Hill. It is noted that McConnell is the leading GOP advocate for supporting Ukraine and is under increased pressure with Ukraine's troops running low on ammunition and weapons. He's tasked Senator James Lankford with leading border talks with the Biden administration and Senate Democrat, but is stepping up his own involvement. The GOP leader reminded colleagues at a closed door lunch meeting not to lose sight of the nation's pressing national security challenges presented by Russia, Iran and China. I think he has stepped up. I think he was really trying to give James Lankford enough room to run to pull together a deal, said one Republican senator, who requested anonymity to explain why McConnell initially kept his distance from the negotiations before getting more involved in recent weeks. For a while, talks were not progressing like people had hoped, and I think now we're back and we're so, so close, tantalisingly close to being able to lock down a deal, the lawmaker added. I think this is now where Mitch has looked at it and said, this is now the time to reinforce why we can't squander this. It's not going to be everything that everybody wants, but there are other issues beyond the US-Mexico border that we're obligated to be thinking about. The source said, recounting McConnell's message to the GOP conference.