Ukraine’s new enemy; The west is tired of the continuation of the war.
After more than 600 days of a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, America has been the biggest supporter of Kyiv in terms of arms and financial aid so that this European country can stand against Russia.
But now the United States has become one of Ukraine’s biggest concerns. Washington’s aid to Ukraine is rapidly dwindling, and divisions in Congress have blocked new aid. No one is sure when the aid will resume.
Declaring that this impact has been felt on the war front, the Economist writes: As America tries to manage its dwindling funds, a Ukrainian source said that in the spring the flow of military equipment was a broad river, in the summer it was a river. The stream was watered and now it is only a few drops of tears.
Amid a lack of confidence [from its Western allies], Kyiv has faced a tough winter and its counterattack to break through Russia’s defenses has failed.
Moscow has ramped up its weapons production, and Kyiv’s main ally is grappling with political rifts and its focus on Israel’s war in Gaza. On the other hand, the US Senate is trying to resume aid to Ukraine in September; Before the US government shutdown threatens again.
US President Joe Biden has requested a supplementary budget of $106 billion, of which $61 billion is for Ukraine and the rest for Israel and other national security priorities.
Republicans in this country also associate aid to Ukraine with tougher measures to control immigration through the US-Mexico border.
The longer this delay is, the more the parties are affected by the election fever. If no deal is reached before Christmas, new US aid to Ukraine could be delayed until after the elections in November 2024.
According to this report, if Donald Trump is elected as the President of the United States, all aid [to Kyiv] may end. In this connection, an American pro-Ukraine senator said: Time is not our friend.
At least Ukrainian leaders are publicly rejecting the notion that the US might cut aid. Andriy Yermak, senior adviser to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said: I do not believe that this will happen. I received “strong bipartisan support” during a trip to Washington this month.
Given the depletion of military stockpiles across the West, the crisis in the Middle East, and a potential crisis over Taiwan, America may be reluctant to provide more aid than is authorized.
Aid packages to Ukraine have fallen from an average of more than $1 billion a month (peaking at more than $5 billion in January) to $350 million in October and just $250 million so far this month. A separate fund of more than $18 billion, known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), has also been depleted.
Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy official, has asked the EU countries to compensate for the reduction of US aid to Ukraine if necessary.
In fact, Europeans have recently made new promises. Germany announced plans to double its support to Ukraine next year to $8.5 billion, as well as deliver more air defense systems. The Netherlands, Finland, and Lithuania all announced new military aid packages to Ukraine.
However it seems that the ruling of the Constitutional Court in Germany will disrupt the plans to increase aid to Ukraine. On the other hand, Geert Wilders’ far-right party “For Freedom” in the Netherlands, which won the most seats in the recent elections, opposes sending weapons to Ukraine and raises doubts about whether Amsterdam can still supply the coalition with F-16 fighter jets. to lead Ukraine.
The new Slovak government has also stopped its military aid. Ukrainians fear that without American leadership, the Europeans will quickly stop their support.