Ukraine Shocked as U.S. Republicans Question Aid

Date: 21 October 2022 - 21:49

News ID: ۱۰۸۰۶۵

WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- Ukrainian officials have expressed “shock” over Republican suggestions that future assistance for Kyiv could be limited if the party wins the House of Representatives in November’s U.S. midterm elections, calling on Washington to continue providing bipartisan support.
In comments that raised eyebrows, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said earlier this week he anticipates difficulty in passing additional aid for Ukraine, should his party win the lower chamber of Congress — a result predicted by current polling.
“I think people are going to be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,” McCarthy told Punchbowl News.
David Arakhamia, head of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s party in parliament, told the Financial Times: “We were shocked to hear these comments of Mr McCarthy, honestly.”
The US Congress has passed billions of dollars in assistance for Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict, most recently a $12.3 billion package as part of a larger spending bill meant to avert a government shutdown.
But partisan divisions have surfaced over the issue: in May, 11 Republican senators and 57 House Republicans opposed a $40 billion security assistance request for Ukraine. Lawmakers and analysts expect Republican dissent to increase in the next Congress, particularly as the 2024 general election approaches.
Josh Hawley, the Republican senator from Missouri, said in a statement on Wednesday: “The United States has spent more on aid to Ukraine than all our European allies combined, and with no meaningful oversight. This is foolish and not sustainable.”
The Biden administration has said that while they expect the conflict will eventually end at the negotiating table, officials see no immediate prospect for discussions and will continue to provide lethal aid to strengthen Ukraine’s hand.
Analysts added the administration may seek to push through a large assistance package during the lame duck session of Congress if Republicans win the House, before it switches to GOP control.
Lawmakers from both parties are looking to lock in billions of dollars in military assistance to Kyiv before newly elected members are sworn in in January, according to a lawmaker and congressional staffers.
The new aid package, which most likely would be part of an omnibus spending bill, could be within the range of roughly $50 billion, congressional aides and a source close to the Ukraine government said. The Biden administration has not yet made a formal request for new funding.
Congress has allocated a total of $65 billion in funding to Ukraine since Russia attacked the country in February.
Many Republican candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump have questioned the amount of U.S. aid delivered to Ukraine. They argue that the U.S. has more pressing domestic problems, that Ukraine’s fate is not tied to U.S. national interests and that European allies should be delivering a larger share of the weapons and other assistance to Kyiv.
On Thursday evening, President Joe Biden said of Republicans, “They said that if they win they’re not likely to fund, to continue to fund Ukraine.”
“These guys don’t get it. It’s a lot bigger than Ukraine. It’s Eastern Europe. It’s NATO. It’s really serious, serious consequential outcomes.”
House conservatives argue America needs to shore up its southern border and address the illegal immigration before worrying about Ukraine’s border with Russia.
“My constituents are saying, ‘Why are we more worried about Ukraine’s borders than we are about America’s borders?’ My constituents are not sitting there going, ‘Gosh, we have to save Ukraine’s borders,’” Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, a member of the conservative Trump-aligned Freedom Caucus, said in an interview.

EU to Give 18bn Euros to Kyiv Next Year

The European Union will give Kyiv 1.5 billion euros a month in 2023 to help run Ukraine, the head of the bloc’s executive said on Friday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke after the 27 national EU leaders discussed supporting Ukraine during a second day of their summit in Brussels on Friday, the 240th day of the war.
She said that the EU has so far given Ukraine 19 billion euros this year but that the summit looked at 2023.
“It is very important for Ukraine to have a predictable and stable flow of income,” she said, adding that Kyiv estimated its monthly needs at 3-4 billion euros “for the basics”.
Von der Leyen told a news conference the EU would finance 1.5 billion euros per month of that, with the rest expected to come from the United States and international institutions.
“That will give a total of 18 billion for the next year - an amount Ukraine can count on and where there is a stable and reliable, predictable flow of income.”

Zelensky addressed the EU leaders via a video link the day earlier, saying missiles and drones have damaged a third of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches.
“Russia also provokes a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to EU countries,” Zelensky said.
Poland and the three Baltic states proposed banning Russian diamond imports from Russia and phasing out steel trade more quickly, but Belgium and Italy are among those opposed to these steps.
Hungary is against sanctioning Russia in general, while Germany and France have said current measures already go far.
Zelensky urged the West to warn Russia not to blow up a huge dam that could flood large areas of southern Ukraine, and he appealed for more aid pledges to be made at an international conference in Berlin next Tuesday dedicated to Ukraine’s reconstruction.
The summit’s chairman, European Council President Charles Michel, said the EU was looking at using Russian assets frozen under sanctions against Moscow towards rebuilding Ukraine.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that amounted to some 300 billion euros, though Berlin and others have warned that actually seizing the assets might be illegal.
Kallas also sided with Lithuania in pushing for a special international tribunal to be set up to judge possible war crimes committed in Ukraine, something the Netherlands has voiced caution about.