President Zelensky dispatched his chief of staff to Washington this week to beg for continued military aid, warning that if the United States Congress does not approve President Biden’s request for tens of billions more in taxpayer money, Ukraine is at “big risk” of losing the war.
There is growing panic in Kyiv about the future of the war against Russia as continued funding from both the United States and the European Union is increasingly in doubt as war fatigue sets in as Moscow’s invasion nears its second anniversary.
In a full court press, President Zelensky sent his chief of staff Andriy Yermak to the American capital to beseech congressional lawmakers to fall in line and acquiesce to President Biden’s demands for an additional $60 billion in funding to Ukraine.
Yermak said in comments reported by The Times that if Republican opposition to Biden’s billions was successful in blocking funding, it would be “impossible” for Kyiv to recapture the vast swaths of territory seized in Ukraine by Moscow and that there would be a “big risk” of losing the war altogether. He said that it is “critically important” for Congress to approve the military aid package as soon as possible after the White House warned that U.S. funding for the proxy war could dry up by the end of the year
Republicans on Capitol Hill have promised to fight for increased border security amid the migrant crisis as a result of Biden’s open borders policies, with House Speaker Mike Johnson saying that protecting the border would be their “hill to die on” in negotiations over the aid package to Ukraine. The Biden administration has attempted to lump Ukraine funding in with money to Israel in order to try to put political pressure on Republicans to cave.
However, Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn said that the current aid package proposed in the Senate by Democrat leader Chuck Schumer has “zero chance” of being passed, saying: “Our security cannot come second to that of other countries around the world, our allies, even those like Ukraine and Israel.”
Zelensky, who abruptly cancelled a video conference with congressional lawmakers on Wednesday, has openly aired his frustrations with the supposed lack of funding from Western powers despite receiving hundreds of billions already from the U.S. and European powers. The Ukrainian president has also complained that the conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorists has shifted focus away from the war in his country.
The fight over funding for the war in Ukraine is not only breaking out in Washington but in Brussels as well. Since the Russian invasion last year, the EU has provided 85 billion euros ($93bn/£74bn) in aid to Ukraine and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for another round of 50 billion euros in funding, with money set to dry up by the end of the year
Additionally, globalist Eurocrats are currently pushing for Ukraine to be placed on a fast-tracked membership process, which would entitle Kyiv to another €186 billion in subsidies from other member states over the next five years. Leading figures in Brussels have called for membership talks to begin this month, however, they face being derailed by Budapest, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán vowing to use his veto power to not only block the ascension process but the additional funding round as well.
Orbán, who has been a lone voice in the bloc calling for peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv, has demanded a debate within the EU on the strategy towards the war, warning that with the failures of Zelensky’s “Spring counteroffensive” and growing opposition to sending more money in the United States, the European Union could be left alone in funding the fight. The Hungarian leader has also expressed concerns about admitting a country currently in conflict into the EU for fear of dragging Europe into a hot war with Russia.
On Wednesday, former Belgian prime minister and top Eurocrat Guy Verhofstadt argued that the bloc should issue Ukraine war bonds to get around Hungary’s veto and continue funding the war. Risibly, Verhofstadt said that the undermining of EU democratic processes would be necessary to prevent Orbán from “blackmailing” Brussels over its withholding of money from Hungary over so-called “rule of law” violations.