Mass support is no “magic wand”: US aid to Ukraine will not solve all the problems on the front, and the US is the first to admit it.
“It was a difficult journey. It should be easier. It should have been done faster,” US President Joe Biden acknowledged yesterday Wednesday.
He had just approved a bill, which had been debated in Congress for months, providing $61 billion in economic and military aid to Kiev.
“It’s an important moment,” but “the delay has cost a lot,” Garrett Martin, a researcher at American University in Washington, said.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan agreed. “It will take time to get out of the hole created after six months of waiting,” he commented during a press conference.
He warned that “Russia is likely to score additional tactical victories in the coming weeks,” with Kiev expecting another Russian offensive.
“The road ahead is not easy,” but “we believe Ukraine can and will win,” Sullivan added, declining to specify what would count as a victory for Kiev.
In addition to the economic package, the US also decided to offer more advanced weapons to Ukraine. They have begun, discreetly, to deliver long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine and will continue to do so.
Mobilization
Ukraine first used ATACMS missiles against Russia in October, but the ones it has now received have a longer range, up to 300 kilometers.
“It will make a difference,” but “equipment alone won’t solve everything,” Sullivan commented. Besides, “there is something that this aid cannot do, which is to solve the problem of the lack of fighters” facing Ukraine, Martin estimated, although he noted that the release of aid from the US could boost the morale of Ukrainian troops. .
The issue of conscription was discussed between Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the White House.
Ukraine is facing a shortage of volunteer soldiers after more than two years of war against Russia.
Kiev wants to expand conscription by lowering the age of Ukrainians who can be called up to serve in the army from 27 to 25.
The country, which is trying to bring back its citizens of military age, will no longer issue passports abroad for men aged 18 to 60, according to a government announcement yesterday.
Max Bergman, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), emphasized that the impact of American aid will also depend in part on the attitude of the Europeans.
They “should already step up the production” of equipment, he wrote recently, “in order to be able to deal with the gap that the US would leave” if US aid were to stop altogether, for example in the event of a Donald Trump presidential victory. November elections.
According to Bergman, Ukraine in 2024 will have to “maintain its positions, wear down Russian forces, rebuild and restore its own forces and civil defense capabilities” before, at some point, going “on the counter-attack” in 2025.
Source APE – BEE
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