After Poland’s comments about ending military aid to Ukraine, this risk now affects the United States. This weekend, the text adopted to extend the budget for 45 days no longer includes the envelope requested by the White House and the Senate to help Kiev.
Trumpist elected officials with a de facto veto in the House refuse to release these funds, claiming that this money should be used to combat the immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border.
Weaken Ukrainian troops
Senior US officials have repeatedly assured that military and humanitarian support to kyiv will last “as long as necessary.” A confrontation began with a group of elected officials from the extreme right of the Republican opposition who caused Congress to approve a provisional budget for the federal administration in which this envelope, although required by the Chamber of Commerce and the Senate, does not appear.
For the moment there is no immediate risk to fear. The Ukrainian military remains capable of remaining on the defensive and will continue to benefit from the arms batches already approved and currently being delivered.
Europe’s dependence on the United States
This situation highlights Europe’s very strong dependence on the United States in this conflict. Between January 24, 2022 and July 2023, the Americans provided aid estimated by the Kiel Institute at 42.1 billion euros. Secondly, aid from Germany amounts to 17.1 billion euros. That of the British occupies third place with 6.6 billion euros.
The vacuum that a withdrawal of US aid would create would be a major problem, warns James Black of the RAND Europe defense and security research center. He stresses that withdrawal of the US contribution would compromise the effectiveness of the Ukrainian military.
The end of US aid would also cause a weakening of Ukrainian air defenses, equipped with various complex interoperable systems supplied by several countries and which would have to be continually resupplied with ammunition. These devices play a key role in protecting Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure from numerous Russian drone and missile attacks.
“The United States must keep its word”
The actions of Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, on whether or not to approve future packages remain uncertain. House Leader Kevin McCarthy said Sunday that he will “ensure that weapons are supplied to Ukraine,” but warned that “large packages” of aid will not be delivered until security on the U.S.-Mexico border is guaranteed. comes out reinforced.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called on lawmakers to respect the United States’ “commitment to providing urgently needed assistance to Ukrainians fighting to defend their country.”
In Moscow this situation is evidently welcomed. The Kremlin even said it was convinced that “fatigue” “will increase in different countries.”
The response from Ukraine’s allied countries was immediate. The foreign ministers of the European Union met on Monday in Kiev for a “historic meeting” aimed at drawing the lines of “sustainable support” for Ukraine, in the face of the Russian invasion and seeking to integrate into the EU.
Russia said it “should not count” on the “fatigue” of the European Union, responded French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. For White House spokesman Vladimir, “Putin is wrong if he thinks he will last longer than us.”
Source: BFM TV
