The leak of a letter in which thirty congressmen asked President Biden to seek a negotiated solution with Russia unleashes controversy
Since Donald Trump asked Volodímir Zelenskiy to investigate Joe Biden’s son in July 2019 to exploit him in his electoral battle, the fate of Ukraine has depended on US policy. But never from a thread as critical as this one.
The elections that will decide control of Congress on the 8th will also put numbers on US military aid, which is allowing Ukraine to contain the Russian invasion. There are already more than 65,000 million dollars and by the end of the year it could exceed one hundred thousand, if the initiative to approve a new package of 50,000 million dollars discussed by some legislators prospers. In such a case, it would be the largest investment ever made by a single country in another over the course of a single year.
Until now, that section was one of the few things in which President Biden had found the majority support of legislators from both parties. Something that ended last week, when the man who the polls anticipate as the next leader of the Lower House, Republican Kevin McCarthy, warned that he will not give that country “a blank check” in the midst of a recession.
McCarthy, a follower of Donald Trump and his “America First”, is on the campaign trail and responds to general concern about rising inflation and an economic contraction that is making furrows on voters, but Biden still has hope that his own party manages to retain at least the lower house. However, a letter signed by 30 Democratic representatives of this legislative body that was leaked by The Washington Post on Monday seemed to indicate that the unwavering support he has had in his own formation is also coming to an end.
The signatories asked the president to combine military and humanitarian aid with diplomatic efforts in a “proactive” way to reach “a realistic ceasefire framework” and thus prevent the world from prolonging the conflict. Two weeks before the elections, the idea of a schism in the formation that aspires to revalidate the confidence of voters caused outrage among locals and strangers.
Some were not surprised. Among the 30 signatories of the Progressive Caucus, leftist legislators known for their public dissidence stood out, such as Barbara Lee, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Sheila Jackson or Ilhan Omar. In fairness, in the letter they praise the efforts Biden has made to support Ukraine, in a war in which he would not have had the slightest chance were it not for the US military injection, but they believe that this investment also gives him a voice. and vote. “It is the responsibility of the United States to follow the diplomatic path,” they say to the president, after appeasing him with a shower of flattery.
To justify this decision, they paraphrase the president himself, who has said more than once that the way out of this conflict “is going to be a negotiated agreement”, but they seemed to forget that Biden has always said that it is up to Ukraine to decide and kyiv has already ruled out further negotiations while Putin is in charge of the Government.
“With another boss from Russia”
The Russian president said on television that he remains focused on achieving “the objectives of the special operation,” but would not mind achieving them through negotiation. On the contrary, Zelenski threw in the towel after the false referendums with which he annexed four pro-Russian provinces of Ukraine. “Everyone in the world has to understand that there can be no dialogue with this leader of Russia. Perhaps with another head of Russia », he sentenced during his speech at the virtual G7 summit held on the 11th.
The Ukrainian leader is not willing to sacrifice the territorial integrity of his country, while to save face Putin needs to at least consolidate the annexation of the four pro-Russian regions, which lack international recognition. “There is only one person who is blocking peace and that person is in Moscow,” he insisted.
And it is that the letter was written in May and June of last year, when there was still faith at the negotiating table. Some of the signatories said they would not have signed it today, blaming Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal for making it public without her permission. Jayapal on Tuesday took responsibility for a letter that, she says, someone on her team sent without consulting her. “We agree with the government’s perspective that it is not up to the US to pressure Ukraine on decisions that are sovereign to it,” she clarified.
In the initial letter, the legislators who seemed to have opened a gap in support for the war alleged the increasing risk of a nuclear escalation “with catastrophic possibilities”, which some interpreted as a reward to Putin for his threats, since the The Russian president has been trying for weeks to open the diplomatic channel. “The moment was terrible,” acknowledged the president of the Democratic Caucus, in response to criticism from her co-religionists.
Where reverse gear has fallen worst has been in Russia. “We are not going to run after anyone,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had said annoyed, whose suggestions of direct talks between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden have been dismissed by the State Department, which does not consider them authentic. They are, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, Biden’s right-hand man throughout his career, “pure posturing”. The Kremlin considers that the West is “hostile” to Russia, which makes dialogue impossible, although it leaves the door open for Turkey’s mediation to achieve rapprochement.
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