WASHINGTON >> Three years ago, more than 100 House members at one point packed the steps of the U.S. Capitol to show their support for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, Republicans joining with Democrats in a forceful display of bipartisanship.

But that display was harder to find Monday on the third anniversary of the invasion. A press conference held by members of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus featured one Republican out of about 18 lawmakers in attendance. Democrats also had a distinct edge when it came to the number of lawmakers who went to the House and Senate floor to commemorate the anniversary.

The split-screen was just the latest indication of how much support for Ukraine has eroded in the nation’s capital as President Donald Trump charts a vastly different course for American policy. Trump is seeking to reestablish ties with Russia while disparaging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and pressuring Ukraine to give the United States access to its mineral resources to recoup military aid it has provided during the war.

While a group of congressional Republicans still voice support for Ukraine, they have given little indication they will defy Trump’s new direction on European foreign policy, instead holding out hope that Trump will come around to supporting Kyiv.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, an Ohio Democrat who helped organize the press conference Monday, said of Republicans that “quietly, they are supportive, but publicly, no.”

The Ukraine Caucus

About 20 Republicans are part of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus out of about 90 members total. Invitations to caucus members were issued Thursday, but the event was also held during a fly-in day, when most members don’t come back into Washington until evening votes. Some Republicans also said they were unaware of the event.

Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, the lone Republican who did speak at the press conference, said he was lucky to get there in time because of flight issues. He disputed that resolve regarding Ukraine has dropped with his GOP colleagues.

“I still see strong support everywhere I go among my colleagues,” Wilson said. “I’m confident that it’s understood how important it is we stand with democracies in the world, whether it be Israel, or Ukraine, or Taiwan. To me, they’re totally interconnected.”

Wilson said that when he traveled to Europe last week for the Munich Security Conference, there was still bipartisan agreement among U.S. lawmakers on supporting Ukraine. As for the American president, Wilson’s outlook is “look at what Donald Trump does, not how he gets there.”

Democrats used the anniversary press conference to harshly criticize Trump. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md, said Trump continued to “do Russia’s job for it by bringing Vladimir Putin out of isolation, by cutting Ukraine out of negotiations and by parroting Russian propaganda, including the blatant lie, the incredible lie, the unbelievable lie that Ukraine started this war three years ago.”

GOP views

On the other side of the Capitol, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa opened the Senate with a speech in support of Ukraine and a warning. He said Russia is a country that has institutionalized corruption and a place where citizens can be imprisoned for mild criticism of the government.

“Conservatives imagine that Russia doesn’t exist today as I just described, so they are willing to sit down with people who have no political liberties, no political opposition. And it seems to me this is something that this senator would not do,” Grassley said.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, also subtly pushed back on Trump’s direction on Ukraine when speaking to reporters outside the Senate chamber, saying that Putin “is a murderer and he’s invaded Ukraine.”

“The Trump Administration royally screwed up today on Ukraine,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., wrote on social media Monday night. “The vast majority of Americans stand up for independence, freedom and free markets, and against the bully and invader.”

“Refusing to acknowledge Russia as the undeniable and unprovoked aggressor is more than an unseemly moral equivalency — it reflects a gross misunderstanding of the nature of negotiations and leverage,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., wrote in a statement Monday. He blamed the Biden administration in part for the present state of affairs with Trump, arguing that President Joe Biden’s “shameful hesitation and half-measures threaten to give way to something even more disgraceful: the obstinate denial of America’s security interest in Ukraine’s success.”

Trump’s view

Earlier Monday, Trump in a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of visiting Russia at some point and of forging economic ties. He was critical of Biden for not communicating with Putin and spoke optimistically of ending the fighting.

“I think we could end it within weeks if we’re smart. If we’re not smart, it’ll keep going and we’ll keep losing young, beautiful people that shouldn’t be dying and we don’t want that,” Trump said. “And remember what I said, this could escalate into a third world war and we don’t want that either.”

This report contains information from the New York Times.