Zelenskyy asks Congress for more aid. This time, it’s a tougher sell.
Nine months after receiving a standing ovation before a joint session of Congress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky returned today — under remarkably different circumstances — to make a plea for more U.S. aid.
Aware that American enthusiasm for the war effort had eroded significantly, President Zelenskyy said Ukraine was making progress and using U.S. assistance effectively, but that further support was needed to protect the global world order.
Why we wrote this
The Ukrainian president’s U.S. visit comes as Congress heads toward a possible shutdown and 55% of Americans oppose additional aid to Ukraine.
A strong bipartisan contingent of senators, along with President Joe Biden, agree with him. If Russian President Vladimir Putin wins in Ukraine, they argue, his next target will be a NATO member – which America must protect under a treaty. That could bring US forces into direct conflict with Russia.
But the timing couldn’t have been worse. With funding for the US government set to expire on September 30, Congress is at an impasse over spending – and appears to be heading towards a shutdown. Lawmakers, especially on the Republican Party side, are reluctant to spend taxpayer money in a country that, after 19 months of struggle, has no clear path to victory and a notorious history of corruption.
“I just don’t have a lot of confidence that our money is being well spent,” said Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas.
Nine months after receiving a standing ovation before a joint session of Congress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky returned today — under remarkably different circumstances — to make a plea for more U.S. aid.
Aware that American enthusiasm for supporting the war effort had waned considerably, President Zelensky urged the US to stay the course. According to senators who attended the closed-door briefing, he said Ukraine is making progress and using U.S. aid effectively, but that further support is necessary to protect the global world order.
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, summarized Mr. Zelenskyy’s argument as: “We kept our end of the bargain, and we hope you will see that and not choose this turning point to let us in the sting.”
Why we wrote this
The Ukrainian president’s U.S. visit comes as Congress heads toward a possible shutdown and 55% of Americans oppose additional aid to Ukraine.
A strong bipartisan contingent of senators, along with President Joe Biden, agree with the Ukrainian leader. If the US does not help Ukraine against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, they argue, its next target will likely be a member of NATO – which America is required to protect under the treaty. And that could bring US forces into direct conflict with Russia.
“It’s really a matter of paying now — or paying a lot more later to stop Putin,” said Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who serves on the Armed Services Committee and has visited Ukraine four times.
But the timing could not have been worse for President Zelensky’s personal request. With funding for the U.S. government set to expire on September 30, Congress is at an impasse over spending — and appears headed toward a government shutdown. Amid rising deficits and record high national debt, Republicans are scrutinizing every dollar in proposed budgets for domestic priorities. And more and more lawmakers, especially on the Republican Party side, are reluctant to spend taxpayer money in a country that, after 19 months of struggle, has no clear path to victory and a notorious history of corruption.
Zelenskyy’s dismissal of all six Ukrainian deputy defense ministers shortly before his visit, after dismissing the defense minister himself earlier this year, was widely seen as an attempt to clean things up.
A U.S. government surveillance effort involving 20 different organizations said in a March report that despite receiving 189 complaints of misconduct related to U.S. aid to Ukraine, investigations had “failed to substantiate significant waste, fraud or abuse.” However, the report also noted that it was difficult to conduct “end-use monitoring” due to the lack of U.S. personnel in Ukraine. Senate Republicans are pushing to create a special inspector general to oversee aid to Ukraine.
“I just don’t have a lot of confidence that our money is being well spent,” said Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, who supported the initial US aid package after the Russian invasion of February 2022. In total, the US has appropriated $113 billion – just about 0.5% of GDP much more than he and his colleagues proposed expenses to secure the southern border, an issue he believes is more important to his constituents.
“Until we have a plan to secure the southern border, you can count on me for even more funding for Ukraine,” said Senator Marshall, one of six Republican senators and 23 Republicans in the House of Representatives. sign a letter to the Biden administration today opposing its request for another $24 billion.
Kiel Institute for the World Economy
When he met Mr. Zelenskyy this afternoon, Mr. Biden announced a new one Military aid package of $325 millionthat will be drawn from the Pentagon’s existing inventory and therefore will not require congressional approval.
In the early days of the war, Mr. Zelenskyy’s courage in remaining in Kiev even as top U.S. military and intelligence officials predicted it would soon fall to Russia earned him great respect — and strong support from both parties for two first rounds of aid, worth $13.6 billion. and $40 billion respectively.
But a year and a half later, with estimated war dead at more than 150,000 and a major Ukrainian counteroffensive that has gained little ground, the initial support evident in the blue and yellow flags hanging outside homes across America has weakened. a CNN poll In August, it emerged that 55% of Americans are against sending more aid to Ukraine. Of the 45% in favor, older people and Democrats were the most in favor.
“They want to be supportive,” Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said of his Wisconsin voters. But rising U.S. deficits and the appearance of a stalemate in Ukraine are making them hesitant, he adds. “I think they recognize the reality.”
Senator Johnson voted in favor of the $40 billion package in May 2022, hoping that Putin would reconsider and stop his invasion. Now he is convinced that the Russian leader will not lose this war under any circumstances, even if it means resorting to nuclear weapons. “What the Biden administration should do quietly — and it should be quietly — is figure out a way to end this war,” he says.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Most of the lawmakers raising objections are Republicans. But progressive Democrats have also raised concerns. Of the House members who voted against the initial $13.6 billion aid package, 54 were Republicans and 15 Democrats. Last fall, the Progressive Caucus published – and subsequently withdrawnamid a barrage of criticism – a letter calling on President Biden to engage in direct diplomacy with President Putin to find a way to end the war.
Ukraine’s supporters say that just because it’s becoming increasingly difficult to present the case to the Americans doesn’t mean Congress shouldn’t try. Addressing Americans’ domestic concerns while helping Ukraine win its battle with Russia is not only possible but essential, they say.
“We can do both, and we must,” said Senator Blumenthal. He has visited mass graves in Bucha and met with soldiers who lost limbs in the fighting and mothers who lost sons. “We are reliving the atrocities of the 1920s and 1930s,” he says.
In addition, the US has signed an agreement 1994 agreement to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty in exchange for giving up its nuclear arsenal – at the time the third largest in the world.
Some Republicans say the president needs to more forcefully convince the American people that helping Ukraine is in the country’s best interest — and that walking away could be disastrous.
“This blanket talk about defending democracy around the world — it’s not wrong, but it’s not enough,” said Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. “I think if we were to leave Ukraine, our entire system of alliances around the world would collapse. It would reinforce the narrative used against our country by our adversaries, that we are weak, that we are hollowed out. It would be the withdrawal from Afghanistan on steroids.”
Editor’s note: The story has been updated to include President Biden’s formal announcement — later in the day of President Zelenskyy’s visit — of new aid to Ukraine that does not require congressional approval.