US Congress’ Waning Interest In Ukraine

Recently, Republicans in the United States Congress blocked an aid proposal by President Joe Biden to Ukraine, a move that is likely to  jeopardize its fight to ward off Russian aggression.

The Republicans blocked an emergency spending bill to fund the war in Ukraine, demanding strict new border restrictions in exchange and severely endangering President Biden’s push to restock the war chests of American allies before the end of the year.

The Biden administration asked Congress in October for nearly $106 billion to fund ambitious plans for Ukraine, Israel and U.S. border security but Republicans who control the House with a slim majority rejected the package.

The vote highlighted the waning support in Congress for backing Ukraine in the war and is about to put the country in precarious situation because without the US funds, the Ukrainian resistance may have collapsed much earlier in the face of the Russian onslaught.

At the moment Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the war is failing to meet its objectives and Russia’s forces are on the offensive. Experts say that while the bill faltered over an unrelated immigration policy dispute, the resistance it has met in Congress reflects a dwindling appetite among Republicans for backing Ukraine, as polls show that Americans are losing interest in providing financial assistance to that beleaguered country.

In the Senate, the vote to move forward on the bill was 49 to 51, short of the 60-vote threshold needed to advance. The bill would have possibly provided about $60 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, more for economic and humanitarian aid.

Despite appeals by President Biden, the congressmen voted no as the president upbraided them for abandoning Ukraine when it needed help the most.

“Make no mistake: Today’s vote’s going to be long remembered, and history is going to judge harshly those who turned their backs on freedom’s cause,” Mr. Biden said on Wednesday at the White House, just hours before the vote. He said Republicans were “willing to literally kneecap Ukraine on the battlefield and damage our national security in the process.”

The rejection of the legislation in the Senate meant that Ukraine will suffer serious setback and may not secure the additional American aid before the end of the year with dire consequences.

The danger of the demise of the legislation is that the US support for Ukraine will exceedingly reduce, which is an alarming situation for the beleaguered nation because without an influx of weapons, Kyiv will run out of resources to defend against Russia’s invading army.

Reacting to this development, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said that Ukraine’s “ability to advance and their ability to defend will be substantially constrained” if Congress does not approve additional funding soon.

Russian President, Vladimir  Putin, has “been quite public and vocal about his notion that if military aid from the United States ceases, it will mean that Russia will defeat Ukraine,” Mr. Sullivan added.

Also reacting, Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, said “apparently some of our colleagues would rather let Russia trample a sovereign nation in Europe than do what it takes to enforce America’s own sovereign borders. “They’re convinced open borders are worth jeopardizing security around the world.”

However, in a speech to conference attendees, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin said “together with our allies and partners, I am confident that we have all the pieces that we need to help our Ukrainian friends sustain their fight for their sovereignty over the long haul.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak stressed that the postponement of U.S. assistance for Kyiv would create a “big risk” of Ukraine losing the war with Russia.

If the aid is postponed, “it gives the big risk that we can be in the same position to which we’re located now,” he said.

“And of course, it makes this very high possibility impossible to continually liberate and give the big risk to lose this war,” he added.

We believe that the US and its NATO allies must do everything possible to give unflinching support to Ukraine to continue to defend itself against the unwarranted invasion from Russia.  We call on all well -meaning countries of the world to rally support for Ukraine so that it will not fall to Russia.

Our position is predicated on the fact that Russia should not be allowed to defeat Ukraine, because that will spell disaster to other neighboring countries even some who are members of NATO.  The Russian ambition appears to be unprecedented and they are very vicious in the dream of colonial conquest.  If Ukraine falls, in no distant time, the Putin administration might look for another flimsy excuse to invade another country. We therefore believe that Russia must be restrained no matter the cost.