https://sputnikglobe.com/20231114/us-desire-to-pay-ukraines-way-hits-new-low-as-israel-and-border-issues-take-priority-1114952320.html
US Desire to Pay Ukraine's Way Hits New Low as Israel and Border Issues Take Priority
US Desire to Pay Ukraine's Way Hits New Low as Israel and Border Issues Take Priority
Sputnik International
Congress allocated over $113 billion in military, economic and humanitarian funding to Ukraine in 2022, with more than $46 billion of that constituting arms assistance. Last month, President Biden asked for a new round of supplemental funding to the tune of $61.4 billion. Conservative Republicans have threatened to reject the request.
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2023-11-14T16:51+0000
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Ukraine is “running out of money and time” and “could get left behind” by Congress as US lawmakers shift their priorities and focus to staving off an imminent government shutdown, and to ramping up funding for Israel and the southern border with Mexico. That’s according to a fresh US media report assessing the mood in Washington at the moment.“Ukraine funding, I believe, if it’s worth doing, needs to stand on its own,” Republican Representative Mark Alford of Missouri said, addressing recently elected House Speaker Mike Johnson’s commitment to keep funding bills separate to prevent the bundling of a large number of unrelated priorities into a single piece of legislation.House Republicans passed a $14 billion aid package for Israel earlier this month, with the money coming from cuts in spending for the Internal Revenue Service. Senate Democrats and many Senate Republicans have rejected the legislation, with President Biden vowing to veto it, demanding that any support for Israel also include money for Ukraine and other spending, including on the border and America’s geostrategic competition with China.Some Senate Republicans, including lawmakers traditionally known for their hawkish positions on Russia, have joined with their conservative colleagues in the House in questioning further Ukraine assistance. “I want to be frank with you about our problem,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida told Biden administration officials at a hearing last week. “People come up to me and say the following: ‘We have five, six thousand people a day crossing our border; we’ve got all these other needs…Why is Ukraine important in that context?’ I hear that constantly,” the senator said.Pentagon officials have already sounded the alarm about the dwindling aid for Ukraine from existing outlays, with a DoD spokeswoman saying the department has turned to “metering out” the remaining money, with about $1 billion in funds remaining. “We’re going to continue to roll out packages. But they’re getting smaller,” the spox said.Along with military funding is the problem of Ukraine’s massive budget shortfall, which is expected to hit up to $40 billion in the coming year. The country’s national debt approached 50 percent of GDP in 2021, even before the escalation with Russia, and at more than $162 billion now, is expected to surpass 100 percent of GDP next year.The country has relied on US and EU support over the past year and a half to keep the lights on and the business of government running, but funds are quickly running out.The battle in Congress over funding priorities challenges the pompous tone of administration officials and the Pentagon about the US’s ability to support as many conflicts as necessary. “America can certainly afford to stand with Israel and to support Israel’s military needs and we also can and must support Ukraine in its struggle against Russia,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last month, adding that the US economy is doing “extremely well.”“The United States can walk and chew gum at the same time,” Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin added.The dropping interest in Ukraine among Republican lawmakers has prompted Ukrainian officials to step up their lobbying, notwithstanding revelations by Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny earlier this month that Ukraine’s counteroffensive had failed and that there won’t be a “deep and beautiful breakthrough.”A Ukrainian victory “is not only our strategic interest. It is the interest of the United States as well,” Zelensky administration chief Andriy Yermak emphasized in a speech in Washington on Monday. The coming year will be “decisive” for the proxy war with Russia, and “a turning point in the war is approaching,” he noted.Supporters of additional aid, meanwhile, have expressed growing frustration as Capitol Hill and ordinary Americans (the majority of whom now say aid to Ukraine should be capped) shift their focus.Lawmakers are suffering “sensory overload,” with Ukraine competing “with other important issues, and messages circulating in the ether that can dilute our messages,” pro-Ukraine funding Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana explained. Assuring that Ukraine and Israel were “linked,” Young said that “there is a ‘rules-based order’ that is under threat by Russia, Hamas, China and others,” and “we need somebody to enforce those rules.”The shift in tone on Ukraine in Congress, and reports of US and EU calls for peace talks with Moscow have evoked cautious optimism that the blood-soaked 20-month proxy war against Russia may be approaching its end. But Russian officials aren’t counting on a halt of Western military support for Kiev in the near future.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20231102/us-house-passes-143bln-israel-aid-bill-unlikely-to-clear-senate-biden-veto-threat-1114676884.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20231108/usaid-warns-no-funding-left-for-direct-budget-support-in-ukraine-1114821828.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20231112/ukraines-foreign-us-mercs-in-zaporozhye-reportedly-left-for-israel-1114905371.html
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US Desire to Pay Ukraine's Way Hits New Low as Israel and Border Issues Take Priority
16:22 GMT 14.11.2023 (Updated: 16:51 GMT 14.11.2023) Congress allocated over $113 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian funding to Ukraine in 2022, with more than $46 billion of that constituting arms assistance. Last month, President Joe Biden asked for a new round of supplemental funding to the tune of $61.4 billion. Conservative Republicans have threatened to reject the request.
Ukraine is “running out of money and time” and “could get left behind” by Congress as US lawmakers shift their priorities and focus to staving off an imminent government shutdown, and to ramping up funding for Israel and the
southern border with Mexico. That’s according to a fresh US media
report assessing the mood in Washington at the moment.
“Ukraine funding, I believe, if it’s worth doing, needs to stand on its own,” Republican Representative Mark Alford of Missouri said, addressing recently elected House Speaker Mike Johnson’s commitment to keep funding bills separate to prevent the bundling of a large number of unrelated priorities into a single piece of legislation.
“It should not be in any way tied to Israel. These should be separate votes to show our districts exactly where we stand,” Alford said.
House Republicans passed a $14 billion aid package for Israel earlier this month, with the money coming from cuts in spending for the Internal Revenue Service. Senate Democrats and many Senate Republicans have rejected the legislation, with President Biden vowing to veto it, demanding that any support for Israel also include money for Ukraine and other spending, including on the border and America’s geostrategic competition with China.
2 November 2023, 21:56 GMT
Some Senate Republicans, including lawmakers traditionally known for their hawkish positions on Russia, have joined with their conservative colleagues in the House in questioning further Ukraine assistance. “I want to be frank with you about our problem,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida told Biden administration officials at a hearing last week. “People come up to me and say the following: ‘We have five, six thousand people a day crossing our border; we’ve got all these other needs…Why is Ukraine important in that context?’ I hear that constantly,” the senator said.
“One of the dangers we face in these three challenges [Ukraine, Israel, the border, ed.] is the trade-offs that are going to have to happen. We’re gonna have to make policy decisions, because one of the risks we run is being overextended,” Rubio added.
Pentagon officials have already sounded the alarm about the dwindling aid for Ukraine from existing outlays, with a DoD spokeswoman saying the department has turned to “metering out” the remaining money, with about $1 billion in funds remaining. “We’re going to continue to roll out packages. But they’re getting smaller,” the spox said.
Along with military funding is the problem of Ukraine’s massive budget shortfall, which is expected to hit up to
$40 billion in the coming year. The country’s national debt approached 50 percent of GDP in 2021, even before the escalation with Russia, and at more than $162 billion now, is expected to surpass 100 percent of GDP next year.
8 November 2023, 16:35 GMT
The country has relied on US and EU support over the past year and a half to keep the lights on and the business of government running, but funds are quickly running out.
“At this time there is no funding left for direct budget support,” USAID Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Erin McKee told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. “Without further appropriations, the government of Ukraine would need to use emergency measures such as printing money or not paying critical salaries, which could lead to hyperinflation, and severely damage the war effort.”
The battle in Congress over funding priorities challenges the pompous tone of administration officials and the Pentagon about the US’s ability to support as many conflicts as necessary. “America can certainly afford to stand with Israel and to support Israel’s military needs and we also can and must support Ukraine in its struggle against Russia,”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last month, adding that the US economy is doing “extremely well.”
“The United States can walk and chew gum at the same time,” Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin
added.
The dropping interest in Ukraine among Republican lawmakers has prompted Ukrainian officials to step up their lobbying, notwithstanding revelations by Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny earlier this month that Ukraine’s counteroffensive had failed and that there won’t be a “deep and beautiful breakthrough.”
A Ukrainian victory “is not only our strategic interest. It is the interest of the United States as well,” Zelensky administration chief Andriy Yermak emphasized in a speech in Washington on Monday. The coming year will be “decisive” for the proxy war with Russia, and “a turning point in the war is approaching,” he noted.
Supporters of additional aid, meanwhile, have expressed growing frustration as Capitol Hill and ordinary Americans (the majority of whom now say
aid to Ukraine should be capped) shift their focus.
Lawmakers are suffering “sensory overload,” with Ukraine competing “with other important issues, and messages circulating in the ether that can dilute our messages,” pro-Ukraine funding Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana explained. Assuring that Ukraine and Israel were “linked,” Young said that “there is a ‘rules-based order’ that is under threat by Russia, Hamas, China and others,” and “we need somebody to enforce those rules.”
12 November 2023, 15:23 GMT
The shift in tone on Ukraine in Congress, and reports of US and EU calls for peace talks with Moscow have evoked cautious optimism that the blood-soaked 20-month proxy war against Russia may be approaching its end. But Russian officials aren’t counting on a halt of Western military support for Kiev in the near future.
“We understand that the West, which gave birth to the regime in Kiev, which stood behind the unlawful, unconstitutional coup d’état in 2014, will do everything in its power to keep it afloat,” Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy told Sputnik earlier this week.
