A big bag of nothing but promises is what Joe Biden’s national security advisor brought with him on his covert trip to Kiev on Wednesday.
As Jake Sullivan offered a rehash of the same old promises of Washington’s commitment to supporting Ukraine, he could not put any specific timeframe as to when more aid might be forthcoming.
It would appear that the whole point of Biden’s point man visiting Ukraine was to placate Kiev while exuding confidence that the gridlock in Congress over supplementary aid to Ukraine would end – at some point.
This was Sullivan’s first trip to Ukraine since he accompanied Biden to the Ukrainian capital on February 20, 2023. This hurried visit could be taken as a sign that things look pretty bleak when it comes to hopes of getting the aid package “out the door.” And yet, Sullivan ruled out any "Plan B," saying:
“I’m confident that we will achieve Plan A... We are confident we will get a strong bipartisan vote in the House for an assistance package for Ukraine… It’s already taken too long," he said, noting, however, that "I’m not going to make predictions about exactly when this will get done.”
Media reported that House Republicans are in the early stages of work on an alternate foreign aid bill that they hope will be ready by April. Current discussions are believed to be centered on trying to get the aid approved in the form of a loan.
Last week, Pentagon cost savings allowed Washington to scrounge up $300 million in Ukraine military assistance that included air defense interceptors, artillery rounds, and armor systems. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin touted it before European allies at a meeting of Ukraine’s Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base on March 19.
"Those supplies rush to you as we speak,” said Sullivan. As for Kiev's coveted larger package, he reiterated that “we are confident that we will get this aid to Ukraine.”
Sullivan also put a damper on the Kiev regime’s hopes of getting their hands on American longer range ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) with a range of up to 300 kilometers. There were reports that these systems might be included in the $300 million Ukraine aid package.
“ATACMS, I am going to disappoint you, I have nothing to announce here publicly today on that issue. When we do have something to share we will be sure to share it, but we will say that we had very constructive discussions about our military support and our capabilities,” Sullivan said.
It is worth noting that Kiev already has in its possession an older and shorter-range version of the ATACMS, which Russian forces have successfully been shooting down. Last year when Ukraine first used them to attack the port city of Berdyansk in Zaporozhye, Russia's President Vladimir Putin called the missiles’ delivery a “mistake” and stressed that the weapons would “create additional threats.” Putin assured that Russia would “be able to repel” ATACMS strikes, and that the weapons wouldn’t change the situation on the battlefield.
Earlier, US officials predicted Ukraine's failure in the NATO proxy conflict with Russia in a worst-case scenario unless Congress approves additional military aid to Kiev.
"This doesn't go well for Ukraine over time without a supplemental, and it could lead to potential collapse," an unnamed official was quoted by The Washington Post as saying, adding:
"But here's the bottom line: Even if Ukraine holds on, what we really are saying is that we are going to leverage countless lives in order to do that."
Western countries have pumped hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of aid to Ukraine since the start of Russia's special military operation in February 2022. But since then, the neo-Nazi forces of the Kiev regime, bulked up by mercenaries after the failed summer counteroffensive, have had little battlefield successes to boast of.
Ukraine has lost more than 71,000 soldiers and over 11,000 units of various weapons since the start of the year, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday.
"In general, the losses of the Ukrainian armed forces during this period, that is, since the beginning of this year, exceeded 71,000 people and 11,000 units of various weapons. This is almost three times higher than the same period last year," Shoigu said at a meeting with senior military.
Ukraine has also lost four Abrams tanks, five Leopard tanks, six HIMARS multiple rocket launcher systems, and five Patriot complexes, he added.
The Kremlin has consistently warned against the West's continued arms deliveries to Ukraine, saying that they only prolong the conflict, adding that Western military equipment will eventually be destroyed.