Congressional Hawks Bid for More Ukraine Aid Post-Russia Uprising

Congressional hawks will now argue for more Ukraine aid after Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s recent uprising in Russia.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who leads the paramilitary organization Wagner, led a short-lived uprising on Saturday.

House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks (D-NY) said on Monday:

I would hope what [the Wagner rebellion] does is reinforce to members of Congress, particularly some of my Republican colleagues, who were talking about not continuing funding Ukraine, that this is why it is important to make sure that we are funding Ukraine to push forward.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) said the recent uprising is a sign that America must “remain fully committed to assisting our friends in Ukraine with the tools they need to defeat the Russian regime.”

After the debt ceiling deal, otherwise known as the Fiscal Responsibility Act, was passed, it limited defense spending to $866 billion. This means that additional Ukraine aid would have to be passed through a supplemental package or by offsetting defense spending.

However, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in June quashed the notion of an additional supplemental package, saying it is not “going anywhere” in the House.

The defense industry lobbyists told Politico they believe the Prigozhin uprising will help lawmakers better argue for a supplemental spending package for Ukraine.

The United States has provided more than $113 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday called for more weapons for Ukraine. He said. “It’s hard to imagine that the “uprising” is “bad news” for Ukraine.”

“If you look around the whole world right now, the single most important mission of the free world should be the defeat of the Russians in Ukraine,” McConnell remarked.

“I know there are some voices of opposition in the United States, but here’s a way to look at it: the amount of money we’ve spent, sent to Ukraine, is about .02 percent of our gross national product, and most of it is spent in this country,” he continued.

McConnell added, “So we have a country only asking for help that’s doing the fighting.”