The United States Government has increased its military commitment to Ukraine. This Thursday, in his meeting at the White House with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, President Joe Biden announced a new shipment of military aid to the country invaded by Russia, worth $325 million, and declared that the first Abrams tanks promised at the beginning of the year will be in Kiev’s hands next week.
“Today I approved the new tranche of security assistance to Ukraine, which includes more artillery, more ammunition, more anti-tank weapons and next week the first Abrams will be delivered to Ukraine,” Biden announced after a meeting alone with Zelensky and the begin a second session, this time accompanied by their respective teams of advisors.
“We are also focused on strengthening Ukraine’s air defense capabilities to protect critical infrastructure that provides light and heat during the coldest and darkest days of the year,” added the US president. For his part, Zelensky expressed his gratitude for the new shipment of assistance, “exactly what our soldiers need right now.”
The meeting, and the new announcement of assistance, occurred on a day in which the differences between the Democrats and the more conservative group of Republicans regarding US assistance to Ukraine were exposed. Although this hard wing is a minority, the small Republican majority in the House of Representatives gives them a disproportionate influence, since the president of that chamber, Kevin McCarthy, needs his votes to move forward with his initiatives; or even to maintain his own position. And that faction is increasingly reluctant to approve aid to Ukraine, given the prolongation of the war. The US Government is seeking approval of a new budget allocation of $24 billion for the invaded country, but legislators from this group have already expressed their resistance.
Asked by both presidents about the prospects of Capitol Hill approving aid to Ukraine, Biden responded that “I count on the common sense of Congress. No alternative”.
The Democratic White House received the president and his wife, Olena, with all pomp in a ceremony on its portico – not in the south gardens, as it was not a state visit -, a prelude to a long meeting with President Joe Biden , first alone and then surrounded by his advisors, to discuss the conflict situation on the ground and the military, economic and humanitarian aid from the United States to Kiev. “I am in Washington to strengthen our coalition to defend Ukrainian families and children, our homes, freedom and democracy in the world,” Zelensky assured upon his arrival at the presidential residence.
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Immediately before, the Pentagon discussed short- and long-term military needs with Zelensky, especially the possible transfer of ATACMS tactical missile systems, which Kiev claims to urgently need to guarantee the success of its counteroffensive. “Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed U.S. support for Ukraine and provided an update on how U.S. security assistance responds to Ukraine’s most urgent needs…both also addressed long-term needs,” says a Defense statement.
“Without help, we lose the war”
The Ukrainian president’s day had begun with a visit to Congress. In the Senate, with a Democratic majority, the hundred legislators welcomed him with honors to listen to his passionate appeal for continued US aid in the conflict. “Zelensky has told us: ‘If we stop receiving aid, we are going to lose the war,’ said the leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Democrat Charles Schumer, after the plenary session of this chamber with the Ukrainian president.
On the other hand, the Republicans – with a majority in the House of Representatives – vetoed, according to the digital media Punchbowl News, that Zelensky gave a speech before both houses of Congress, as he did on his previous visit, in December. In addition, a group of conservative congressmen sent a letter to the White House, hours before the Ukrainian leader’s visit, to ask that Washington turn off the tap on aid to the country.
“How is the counteroffensive going? Are the Ukrainians closer to victory than they were six months ago? What is our strategy, and what is the president’s exit plan? How does the Administration define victory in Ukraine? Approving new funds without knowing the answers to these questions would be an absurd abandonment of Congress’ responsibility,” the legislators point out.
Zelensky met with McCarthy, House Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries, Republican committee chairmen and Democratic minority lawmakers, in a visit he described as “very important.” He needs to shore up the support of both political parties in the United States, especially in the face of the prospect of a long war and with presidential elections in November 2024, the result of which could change the political sign in the White House, now Democratic.
During the first year of the war, Zelensky’s appeal found receptive ears among American lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats. Thus, the United States has sent Kiev nearly $75 billion in successive military, economic and humanitarian assistance packages since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022. But after the Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives , the tables have turned.
Frustrated by what they consider to be little progress in a war to which there is no end in sight, the group of legislators furthest to the right is increasingly reluctant to approve new aid items to a country that they consider alien and that they believe He has already received enough. That money, they argue, should be invested in the United States to benefit American citizens.
The great challenge for him comes next week, when on the 30th Congress must approve the budget measure that includes the allocation of 24 billion dollars for Ukraine, or cause the closure of government agencies due to lack of funds. The Republican hardline insists that it will not give its approval to that assignment.
Republican cracks
Even in the Senate, the cracks among Republicans are evident. Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley said after a confidential briefing on Wednesday: “If there is a path to something that can be called a victory, I haven’t heard of it.” However, his bench colleague, Senator Lindsey Graham, stressed that “if you were at that presentation and came away believing that what we do in Ukraine does not affect our national security interests in the world, you literally had your ears plugged.” ”.
The US Government insists that it will continue its assistance to Ukraine “with everything it needs and for as long as it takes.” He believes that a defeat for kyiv would have serious consequences against its interests and those of its allies in the rest of the world, something that Biden reiterated on Tuesday at the UN General Assembly. Washington points, among other things, to a Russia at the gates of the European Union. But also to China, by ensuring that Beijing closely monitors the behavior of the United States in Ukraine, which it perceives as a roadmap for what would happen in the Pacific in the event of an attack on Taiwan.
“It is essential that the new aid item be approved,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday. “If you think the cost of supporting Ukraine is already high, imagine how exorbitant it will be, in blood and finances, if we just walk away and let it [al presidente ruso, Vladímir Putin] take Ukraine. Then, the cost of defending sovereignty and territorial integrity will be considerably more expensive in money and blood, including American blood.”
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