Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his country’s thanks to President Joe Biden for his “unwavering support” after the 81-year-old Democrat announced he would withdraw from the 2024 presidential election, but will remain in office for the remainder of his term.
With President Biden’s decision to stand down in the campaign after a collapse in support as the broader public began to question his apparent mental decline, the future of American financial and military support for the war in Ukraine is in doubt.
Zelensky, whose government and military have relied heavily on aid from the Biden White House, thanked the outgoing president for his support.
In a statement posted on X, Zelensky wrote: “Ukraine is grateful to President Biden for his unwavering support for Ukraine’s fight for freedom, which, along with strong bipartisan support in the United States, has been and continues to be critical.
“Many strong decisions have been made in recent years and they will be remembered as bold steps taken by President Biden in response to challenging times. And we respect today’s tough but strong decision.
“We will always be thankful for President Biden’s leadership. He supported our country during the most dramatic moment in history, assisted us in preventing Putin from occupying our country, and has continued to support us throughout this terrible war.
“The current situation in Ukraine and all of Europe is no less challenging, and we sincerely hope that America’s continued strong leadership will prevent Russian evil from succeeding or making its aggression pay off.”
Since the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States has committed nearly $175 billion of aid and military assistance to support the Ukrainian government and allied nations, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO).
While the Ukrainians had some early successes on the battlefield, Zelensky’s much vaunted “Spring counteroffensive” last year failed to break through the Russian front line, effectively cementing Moscow’s grip on about a fifth of the country’s territory.
Despite the failure of the counteroffensive, widespread reports of corruption within the government in Kyiv and the military, and the large disparity in the number of young men at their disposal compared to their much larger foe, the Biden administration decided to double down on support this year.
In April, Congress passed a security supplemental package for Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and Ukraine, with 64 per cent of the money, $61.7 billion, being allocated to Kyiv.
In June, the Biden administration inked a 10-year security pact with Ukraine, promising to prop up the government in Kyiv for the coming decade with American taxpayer money. The deal also saw the G7 back a plan to use seized Russian assets to pay off the interest on a $50 billion loan taken out by the Ukrainians.
However, it is unclear if a potential Trump administration would seek to scrap the 10-year security pact or continue sending the rest of the $175 billion in aid not yet spent. Mr Trump has vowed that he would end the war quickly, which many observers speculate would likely include forcing Zelensky into peace negotiations with threats of cutting off American aid.
President Zelensky and Mr Trump spoke on the phone last week to discuss the future of the conflict, with the Republican nominee saying after the call: “Both sides will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity.”