Following the exclusion of more military financing from a last-minute congressional budget agreement, President Joe Biden promised continuing US assistance for Ukraine.
The short-term plan, which was passed to avoid a government shutdown, omitted $6 billion (£4.92 billion) in military funding for Kiev, a main White House objective.
Hardline Republicans reject more military aid, and many of them openly disagree with Mr. Biden’s strategy for the conflict.
However, Mr. Biden stated on Sunday that Ukraine could “count on” US help.
Despite the budgetary disaster, Biden promises to support Ukraine
Under no circumstances can we allow the US to stop supporting Ukraine, Mr. Biden stated.
Regarding restoring funds for the war, he added, “I can reassure [Ukraine] that we’ll get there, that we’re going to get it done. “I want to reassure our American allies that you can rely on our support and that we won’t desert you,” he said.
Since Russian began its full-scale assault in February 2022, the US has already given Ukraine over $46 billion (£37 billion) in military assistance.
President Biden has asked for an additional $24 billion (£19 billion).
Additionally, the US has recently transferred cutting-edge weapons to Kiev, including long-range missiles and Abrams tanks. It occurs as the military of Kiev continues to wage a sluggish counteroffensive in the south of the nation.
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However, the short-term budget deal reached on Saturday, which will sustain the US government for 45 days, removed future military spending.
In a joint statement, senior senators from both parties expressed their desire to “ensure the US government continues to provide” support to Ukraine in the upcoming weeks.
But the action, which occurred just nine days after President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Washington to seek additional backing, underscores rising hard-right Republican opposition to the war in recent months in the House of Representatives.
Democratic senatorial majorities are razor-thin, and Republicans hold a majority in the House of Representatives. Prior to being enacted into law, budget legislation must receive both of their approvals.
The spending “already authorised out of this Congress is somewhere between more than enough and way too much,” Florida congressman Matt Gaetz told reporters on Saturday.
Marjorie Taylor-Green, a Georgia representative, asserted that Kyiv had already received much too much aid, claiming that “Ukraine is not the 51st state.”
Democratic Party senators reacted angrily to their approach.
Senator Mark Warner stated, “I can’t believe individuals are going to leave Ukraine at this time.
The new 45-day funding arrangement in the US has been presented by Kyiv officials as a “opportunity” for its diplomats to win longer-term backing, despite the disagreement. It resembles a deadline more than anything.
Even while $3 billion in humanitarian and military aid is still expected to arrive, the Ukrainian foreign ministry acknowledges that “ongoing programs” may be impacted.
Oleksi Goncharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker, acknowledged that Kyiv was worried about the financing that had been halted.
“The US Congress vote is troubling. The US promised to support Ukraine for however long it needed, but it is now clear that this backing is not included in the stop-gap agreement. Not only is this a warning sign for Ukraine.
One of the many signs of Western exhaustion is this political unrest. Concerning developments for Ukraine and the European Union are the rising skepticism among certain Republicans and Slovakia’s recent election success of a populist, pro-Moscow party. Josep Borrell, the top diplomat for the EU, said he was “worried” by the most recent US Congress decision over funding for Ukraine in an interview with the BBC in Kyiv. He told the BBC, “I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.” “One thing is clear: the Russian war against Ukraine is an existential threat to us Europeans, and we must respond accordingly.” President Zelensky stated that no one should be able to “turn off Ukraine’s resilience” in his daily speech from Kyiv.
It is obvious that the nation will keep fighting, with or without assistance from the West.
Ukraine is aware of its clear preferences.
