WASHINGTON — President Biden told congressional leaders Tuesday that there would be “dire” consequences without $60 billion in additional military aid for Ukraine — but House Speaker Mike Johnson countered that the US-Mexico border must be secured first.

Biden met for about an hour with the leaders of both major parties — and then privately with Johnson (R-La.) — after weeks of spurning the House speaker’s requests for a one-on-one talk about US war aims in Ukraine and oversight of spending in the notoriously corrupt region.

“I had a one on one for a period of time with the president, just he and I, in the Oval Office,” Johnson told reporters on the White House driveway.

“When I showed up today, my purpose was to express what I believe is the obvious truth. And that is that we must take care of America’s needs first. When you talk about America’s needs, you have to talk first about our open border.”

Johnson added that “the catastrophe at the border is affecting everyone. And it is top of mind for all the American people for that reason” — as a new Gallup poll released Tuesday found that record-breaking illegal immigration was the most important issue to respondents, outpacing economic concerns.

On Ukraine spending, Johnson said, “I was very clear with the president and all those in the room that the House is actively pursuing and investigating all the various options on that, and we will address that in a timely manner,” without agreeing to a specific date for a possible vote. 

“But again, the first priority of the country is our border and making sure it’s secure,” Johnson added.

“I believe the president can [use] executive authority right now, today to change that. And I told him that again today in person, as I’ve said many times, publicly and privately over the last several weeks. It’s time for action. It is a catastrophe. It must stop.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said after the group portion of the meeting that “the intensity in that room was surprising to me.”

Schumer said participants attempted to pressure Johnson to book a vote on the pending $60 billion for Ukraine, which previously passed the Senate as part of a larger $95 billion foreign aid bill.

“We made it clear to [Johnson] we can’t tarry or the war could be lost,” Schumer said.

The meeting also preceded a weekend deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown, which all parties agreed Tuesday they would work to avert.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve gotta figure out how we’re going to keep funding the government, which is an important problem — an important solution we need to find. And I think we can do that,” Biden told the group in introductory remarks.

The 81-year-old president, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, sat in front of a roaring fire in the Oval Office fireplace — despite the temperature outside topping 60 degrees Fahrenheit — as he read from notecards.

“And Ukraine — I think the need is urgent. I hope we can speak to that a little bit. And I think the consequences of inaction in Ukraine are dire. I’ve been speaking to some of our G7 partners … they’re very concerned,” Biden said to the group, which also included House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)  and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

“And also we need to, in terms of the supplemental, we need to deal with the Israeli portion. But that also contains a significant portion having to do with humanitarian assistance in the Palestinian areas,” Biden went on.

“We have to replenish the air defenses for Israel and we have to work on making sure they don’t face the threat from what’s going on in the Middle East, not just from Hamas but from Iran.”

Biden added: “And the government funding — I’m sure you guys have all of that all taken care of. But all kidding aside … A shutdown would damage the economy significantly, and I think we all agree to that. And we need bipartisan solutions. So I want to hear from the group.”

Johnson told the press as he left the Capitol for the meeting that he is confident there will not be a partial government shutdown, which would begin at 11:59 p.m. Friday.

“We’re going to work to prevent that,” the speaker said. “We’re going to prevent a government shutdown.”

Johnson has yet to call up the Ukraine aid for a vote amid sharp divisions among House Republicans — and his own insistence that the Biden administration flesh out US goals for the conflict and adopt more stringent oversight.

The House speaker has also urged Biden to make fuller use of sanctions against Russian targets and consider repurposing $300 billion in seized Russian assets.

Biden could send $4.4 billion in additional military aid to Ukraine, but he has resisted doing so without congressional replenishment of US stocks.

Congress previously appropriated $113 billion for Kyiv’s defense in the largely stalemated two-year conflict.