At the 2023 US Global Leadership Coalition, Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored the importance of ensuring Ukraine’s continued success in the war with Russia.
“If we don’t, we know that if Putin is allowed to proceed with impunity, that is going to open a Pandora’s box of aggression around the world. Other would-be aggressors will look, they’ll learn, they’ll listen, they’ll take lessons from this. And so we have a profound stake – an ounce of prevention really is much better than 10 pounds of cure later on” said Blinken.
US President Joe Biden emphasized that withholding support for Ukraine contradicts the interests of the United States, and he pledged that his administration will secure funding for Ukraine.
“The failure to support Ukraine is just absolutely crazy. It’s against US interests. We’re going to get that in,” Biden vowed.
The US Senate is scheduled to vote on aid for Ukraine on 6 December. The Biden administration’s proposal, seeking approval for a $110.5 billion allocation to support Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, includes $61 billion for Ukraine. However, Republicans advocate for addressing border-strengthening issues with Mexico, a source of illegal migration, while Democrats are hesitant to include these measures, causing a point of contention.
Under pressure from the House, Republicans have twice rejected including military aid for Ukraine in stopgap spending bills, raising concerns among Ukrainian officials.
On the eve of the vote on 5 December, numerous closed-door briefings were held in the US, including one where President Zelensky was scheduled to speak online. However, at the last minute, he canceled his address. According to the New York Times, the briefing with administration officials turned into a partisan confrontation, with Republicans accusing Democrats of disregarding their demands for border security measures.
Read more:
- Biden: “Failure to support Ukraine is just absolutely crazy”
- Lloyd Austin: Ukraine war will “define global security for decades”
- Stoltenberg: More arms for Ukraine means quicker war end
