Merchants of Misery: Cornered Zelensky Joins Team Biden in Appealing for More Ukraine Funding
12:33 GMT 12.12.2023 (Updated: 13:35 GMT 12.12.2023)
© AP Photo / Patrick Semansky
Subscribe
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to appear before US Congress to try his luck again to get more money this week, coincidentally on the same day the House is set to vote to formalize President Joe Biden's impeachment inquiry. How will events unfold?
Tuesday could prove to be a rough day for both President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
The US president is facing a vote in the US Congress that would make the House GOP impeachment inquiry against him official. House Republicans claim that Biden abused power to benefit his family and potentially capitalized on his son's cash bonanza, including money that came from Ukraine.
For his part, Zelensky is in Washington and expected to meet with the US president and lawmakers to try to convince them to funnel another $60 billion to Kiev. So far, Team Biden has failed to convince American congress members, despite the Pentagon chief's alleged threats to send their sons and uncles to the battlefield in Ukraine unless the money is allocated.
However, this could be a long shot for Zelensky, according to Daniel McAdams, the executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.
"I thought it was pretty surprising, particularly because of the fiasco last week where [Zelensky] was supposed to address this closed door meeting of US senators," McAdams told Sputnik. "Apparently, at least the way I read it, he got word that some Republicans were frustrated and weren't attending, so he threw a hissy fit and pulled out of it at the last minute. So it's not a good look for him there.
"He was in town a couple of months ago and that trip didn't go that awfully well for him. So he doesn't have a great reputation as a salesman himself selling his cause. So there is a question is why is he coming back? But more importantly, who told him to come back? Was it Biden? 'Hey, we need you here in person. We need a full court press. We're down to the wire. We're trying to fight for these votes, and we need you here on the ground.' I don't know the answer to that question, but I think it'd be a good question to have answered," the US scholar continued.
US lawmakers are well aware of the fact that the enthusiasm for funding Ukraine is waning among their constituents. Forty-eight percent of Americans believe the US is spending "too much" on Ukraine, with just 11 percent saying the money is "not enough," according to a poll conducted by the Financial Times and Michigan Ross.
Ukraine's failed counteroffensive - admitted by the US mainstream press - has contributed a lot to this sentiment, as per McAdams. The scholar wonders why Zelensky, who failed to command support among US lawakers in September, thinks that he would curry favor with them now when the situation on the ground is worse.
GOP lawmakers have recently blocked Biden's $110 billion package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, insisting that sweeping US-Mexico border reform measures should be included in the bill. Time is running out for Kiev, as earlier funding has been nearly exhausted and US lawmakers may leave Capitol Hill for their winter break soon.
According to the scholar, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's apparent threats, reported by ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson earlier this month, appears to be nothing short of a sign of desperation.
Still, McAdams does not rule out that at the end of the day, Congress may agree to allocate at least some money for Ukraine if Biden makes certain concessions with regard to border reforms and if there is at least some oversight on the spending. While the Freedom Caucus in the House is likely to remain in opposition, the rest may still give it the nod, he suggested.
"They don't care that another $100 billion or $60 billion will be wasted hurting the poor and middle class the most in this country. They don't care about half a million Ukrainians. They'd be happy to see more debt if that's what it takes. They don't care about the possibility of World War III. They're absolutely like toddlers, you know, throwing toys across the room with just no sense of the consequences of their actions," McAdams said.
In any case it would not be Zelensky who would convince them to do that, according to the scholar. He believes that the West sees the Ukrainian president as a "spent force". Moreover, there is a growing opposition to Zelensky within Ukrainian power circles, he noted, adding that Team Biden is likely to use that to make him even more cooperative.
"All Biden has to do is hold up a picture of Gaddafi and say, this is your next move," McAdams said. "You know, this is what's going to happen to you because that is the case. And we're seeing a lot of rumblings inside Ukraine. We're seeing all sorts of different fault lines, a military coup, the losing, having a military coup. Maidan 3.0. That could happen. [Vitali] Klitschko has put himself directly in opposition. The mayor of Kiev in direct opposition, talking about how Zelensky is becoming more of a tyrant, more of an authoritarian. So you have all these rumblings inside Ukraine that Biden can choose to exploit if he wants."
"I would be very worried if I were him [Zelensky], he is a total liability right now. He's going to have to hope his money is in a secure place because he's going to have some tough times. I mean, he's going to take the brunt of it. The US has already signaled. As far as what I've seen, they signal to Zelensky, do not fire [Gen. Valery] Zaluzhny, his chief of military operations. That's not an option. So he's kind of in a corner without a lot of options right now. And I think the laws are closing in on him."
12 December 2023, 12:09 GMT
