For now, Republican leaders in Congress, who fiercely oppose Biden on most issues, support aid to defend Ukraine, even as they are increasingly calling for Washington to send more powerful weapons. Are. Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on a trip to Kiev on Tuesday that momentum in Washington is building to send long-range missiles and fighter jets to Ukraine.
But the party is divided over Ukraine. Right-wing Republicans in the House of Representatives introduced a so-called Ukraine fatigue resolution earlier this month that proposed aid cuts but lacked enough support to jeopardize the aid in the near term.
Only 11 Republican lawmakers out of 222 in the House signed the resolution. Not many, but Rachel Rizzo, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center in Washington, warned that dismissing him could be a mistake.
Rizzo said, “The impact that small group will have on the party remains to be seen, but I think it’s something that’s important to all of us.”
Congress has approved each new tranche of money requested by the Biden administration since the war began, with $113 billion in aid and military assistance to Ukraine and allied countries so far.
‘Can’t Go On Forever’
Asked about weakening public support for military aid to Ukraine, Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, did not respond directly, but said Americans know what is at stake and that “freedom and May be related to Ukraine’s fight for independence”.
“Americans’ support for Ukraine is reflected in the strong bipartisan support Ukraine’s aid has received in both houses of Congress,” Watson said.
A US official, who declined to speak openly about US support for the war, said the administration has told the Ukrainian government that US resources are not infinite.
The official said, “Everyone understands that this (the war) has to end at some point. And we all would like to see it end as soon as possible.”
Zelensky’s stated goal is to recapture all territory seized by Russia since 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea, and he has said that lack of trust is key to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to end the conflict. Can’t negotiate with.
Jeremy Shapiro, who served in the US State Department during the Obama administration, said officials also believe the war increases risk and distracts from other issues such as US competition with an increasingly assertive China.
But the Biden administration’s ability to negotiate a deal with Kiev and Moscow is hampered by the risk of appearing weak in the face of an adversary like Russia, said Shapiro, who is director of research at the European Council on Foreign Relations.