With soaring inflation and energy prices in the United States and Europe stoking fears in Ukraine that support for the war could wane, the United States and its allies sought reassurance. strongly in the past week for Ukraine that their military and financial commitment to the war effort. do not fluctuate.
Worries in Kyiv and beyond that President Biden might find it harder to get Congressional approval for major aid to Ukraine were fanned last month when Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, Republican The House’s top peacemaker, said that if his party wins a majority in next week’s midterm elections, its members will not be willing to “write a blank check” for Ukraine.
Also, last week, a group of House Democratic progressives sent and then withdrew a letter to Mr. Biden calls for a revised strategy and explores the possibility of direct negotiations with Russia to resolve the conflict.
But Mr Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, offered assurances on Friday on a visit to Kyiv that US support for Ukraine remains strong and that aid will continue to pour in after the vote.
“There will be no wavering in US support during a press conference in a sandbag-filled conference room of the president’s office,” Sullivan said. “I am confident that US support for Ukraine will be firm and unwavering.”
Mr. Sullivan’s commitment was reinforced on Friday when the Defense Department said it was creating a new command to oversee how the United States and its allies train and equip Ukraine’s military, and The Pentagon has announced a new $400 million security assistance package.
That brings in $18.9 billion in military assistance that the United States has committed to Ukraine since the Russian invasion on February 24. The sum includes a combination of immediate shipments. news from stockpiles as well as arms contracts to be delivered over the next three years. .
The Pentagon’s commitment to arms supplies to Ukraine and the new command are clear signals that the United States expects the Russian threat to Ukraine and its neighbors to persist for many years, officials said. current and former senior US officials said.
The order will “ensure that we are assured that we will continue to assist Ukraine in the long term,” said Sabrina Singh, Pentagon deputy press secretary. told reporters at a press conference in Washington. “We remain committed to Ukraine for the time being needed.”
Washington’s staunch support for Ukraine was repeated on Friday at the meeting of the Group of 7 countries in Münster, Germany, where top diplomats from the world’s most developed economies – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – said they would work together to build critical infrastructure in Ukraine.
The countries also discussed sending more defensive military equipment to Ukraine to help it thwart Russian missile and drone attacks that are crippling Ukraine’s infrastructure. Senior State Department official said Friday.
In addition, Antony J. Blinken, US secretary of state, said at a news conference in Münster that allies are “focusing more on our security assistance to help Ukraine defend against attacks.” this, strengthen air defense and increase defense production”.
