As Ukraine has nothing to show for its much-heralded counteroffensive, launched over two months ago, but heavy losses in manpower and NATO-gifted materiel, Kiev's partners are fretting that maintaining the same massive level of support will become an uphill battle, stated a US report.
Dwindling hopes of any "definitive breakthrough" by Ukraine’s military in the face of Russia’s impressive defense lines, fortifications and minefields which have destroyed large numbers of armored vehicles and tanks, are increasingly harrowing for those fueling the proxy war against Russia, sources are cited as saying. Ukraine recently deployed its 82nd Brigade from its reserves, said to be one of the last major fighting units available to Kiev, but also to no avail.
European officials are reportedly concerned that lack of battlefield progress in Ukraine, coupled with the rising pressures of the revving up 2024 presidential election campaign could prompt Joe Biden to "nudge" Ukraine in the direction of negotiations. The afore-mentioned fears are supposedly rooted in the fact that Washington’s European allies do not possess the military capacity to buoy Kiev.
The US and Europe have been spending billions on propping up Ukraine, training and arming its armed forces. But as the counteroffensive flounders and the conflagration drags on, Washington and its allies on the continent are left staring at severely depleted stocks of ammunition, in particular. Any hopes for ramped up production in the US and Europe can only be expected sometime in late 2024, stated the report. One glaring example is Germany, which has been sending various weapons to aid Kiev, including Leopard tanks. However, the German foreign minister recently acknowledged that the reserves of the country’s armed forces (Bundeswehr) are depleted. Other Western nations have also been reporting low weapons stocks, which will only be replenished after changes in budget plans are made.
As for the Kiev-coveted F-16 fighters likely won’t make it to Ukraine until next year, either.
Opposition to Ukraine Funding Grows
Publicly, Biden has been saying that his administration is prepared to support Ukraine "for as long as it takes". But amid growing "hostility" among Republicans toward continuing to funnel aid to Kiev, from a political aspect, sustaining aid is getting harder in the US, wrote the report. It pointed to the anticipated struggle to pass the next funding bill for Ukraine in Congress in autumn. The US president's "Bidenomics" policies, as it is, have resulted in bleak economic data and bloated Federal budget deficit, yet the Democratic POTUS is banking on billions more.
On Friday, reports revealed that US Senator J.D. Vance and Congressman Chip Roy drafted a letter they intend to send to the Office of Management and Budget to oppose President Joe Biden's request of an additional $24 billion in aid to Ukraine next year.
"What is our [US] strategy and what is the president’s exit plan? It would be an absurd abdication of congressional responsibility to grant this request without knowing the answers to these questions... For these reasons, and others, we oppose the additional expenditure for the war in Ukraine, included in your supplemental request," stated the draft letter that a spokesperson for Vance's office confirmed was authentic.
The letter is dated September 5 and it is unclear whether other lawmakers will cosign it as well.
A growing group of Republicans want America’s commitment to Ukraine to wind down, so the stage appears to be set for a tussle over funding when Congress comes back in September. Everyday Americans are also increasingly against authorizing additional funds for Ukraine, as evidenced by a poll published in early August. It revealed that 55 percent of Americans don’t want Congress to authorize any more funds for Ukraine. 51 percent said the US has already done enough to help. Another 59 percent fear that the Ukrainian crisis could unleash a wider war in Europe.