President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made three requests last month: $20.5 billion from the EU, $61.4 billion from Washington for Ukraine’s military effort in 2019, and an invitation from the EU to start membership talks.
Zelenskyy begged to have his wishes granted before Christmas, but it now seems unlikely that he will.
The director of the White House Office of Management and Budget said that 97% of the money approved for Ukraine had already been spent in a letter to Congress on Monday.
In her letter, Shalanda D. Young said, “I want to be clear: without congressional action, we will run out of resources by the end of the year to procure more weapons and equipment for Ukraine and to provide equipment from US military stocks.”
“There isn’t currently a magical financial source available. We were beyond both cash and time.
Young said that cutting off funding would “kneecap” Ukraine, putting its military on the defensive and possibly leading to a retreat.
In a letter to Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, on the same day, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, stated that it was unrealistic to expect EU member states to sanction funding for Ukraine or to extend an invitation to begin membership discussions during a two-day EU summit that begins on December 14.
Orban responded, “I humbly request that you refrain from inviting the European Council to make a decision on these issues in December, as the evident lack of agreement would inevitably result in failure.”
This month’s authorization is necessary for the financing packages from the US and the EU to go into effect the following year and keep Ukraine’s artillery fire going.
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The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has already set aside money for his own armed forces.
He signed a law on November 27 that would raise defence and security spending to $157.5 billion in the next year, or about 39% of Russia’s overall budget, a 70% increase.
As said on X on Tuesday, “Any discussion about the necessity of continuing military assistance to Ukraine must invariably be based on the sole (catastrophic) alternative—a ‘frozen conflict’.” Podolyak is an adviser to the president of Ukraine.
“This “frozen” state is not in some abstract realm of “political expediency,” but rather against the backdrop of a major war, a massive civilian massacre, a great number of clear-cut war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the Russian Federation’s insane desire to completely destroy Ukraine’s agency,” Podolyak wrote.
Funding for Ukraine was among the many national security measures that the Republican-dominated House had left hanging.
The Washington Post editorial board wrote an opinion piece in which they asserted that the US defence budget, many military promotions, and the renewing of key authorities to gather signals and intelligence must all be authorised before Congress departs at the end of next week.
“This is essentially a political football now.”
In return for pushing a social and libertarian agenda, Congressional Republicans uphold national security and foreign policy.
They want President Joe Biden to give up his power to issue humanitarian parole and to restrict asylum proceedings at the Mexican border. They also favour cutting funding to the Internal Revenue Service. There has been a request to ban women in the military from travelling to other states to get abortions.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson stated on X, “The Biden Administration has failed to substantively address any of my conference’s legitimate concerns about the lack of a clear strategy in Ukraine, a path to resolving the conflict, or a plan for adequately ensuring accountability for aid provided by American taxpayers.”
According to Jens Bastian, a fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, “basically, this has turned into a political football, and the ultimate settlement they are attempting to reach will unfortunately involve horse-trading,” Al Jazeera was informed.
But Republicans, as well, have a point, Bastian says.
“By telling the Europeans, ‘If you don’t put more money or weapons on the table, then we are reluctant to compensate for what you are not doing,’ the Republicans are effectively pushing the ball indirectly into their camp.”
a shift in Europe’s wind direction?
Europe has given Ukraine $29.2 billion in military aid this year, compared to the US’s $62.3 billion.
Because Europe is a confederation and must reach consensus on important decisions regarding foreign policy and budgetary allocations, it is susceptible to the differing viewpoints and ideologies of its member states.
Orban, perhaps Russia’s closest ally in the group, said that Ukraine is “light years away” from joining the EU. This assertion stands in stark contrast to Germany’s resounding endorsement of Ukraine’s EU membership.
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In order to prevent corruption and money laundering, limit the influence of oligarchs, maintain the independence of the judiciary, and defend the rights of ethnic minorities, Ukraine claims to have made seven important reforms. The European Commission agrees that Ukraine is on the right track and that official negotiations should be requested to begin this month.
Furthermore, Orban—who gains a great deal from Chinese direct investment in Eastern European countries—is China’s most significant EU ally.
He was the only EU member to attend the Belt and Road Initiative’s tenth anniversary last September in Beijing.
Orban agrees, as do other EU leaders.
On September 30, pro-Russian candidate Robert Fico, a former prime minister of Slovakia, emerged victorious in that country’s legislative elections. A week later, he vowed that weapons would no longer be supplied to Ukraine.
In the elections held last month, the most votes were cast for far-right politician Geert Wilders of the Netherlands, who has also opposed increasing expenditure on Ukraine.
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