After months of waiting and appeals, battleground Ukraine saw the US House of Representatives give the green light to $61 billion aid package. A resolution that several analysts, as well as American, European, and Ukrainian officials characterized as pivotal at a critical time for the outcome of the war and for the future of the country itself, which in the absence of military supplies has found itself in a precarious position.
Related Article
In the previous days, Kiev had tried to exert pressure on the other side of the Atlantic, for help that the country needed… “yesterday, not today”, as the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denis Shmygal, said, even warning of a Third World scenario of war: “If we don’t protect Ukraine, then Ukraine will fall. The global security system will be destroyed and the whole world will need to find a new security system or there will be many conflicts, many such kinds of wars, which at the end of the day, could lead to Third World War“, he had said.
On the same wavelength was the assessment of a senior officer of the US military in Europe, Christopher Cavoli, who had informed Congress that Ukraine could lose the war without further American military support.
In fact, the Biden government emphasized that, without the help, Ukraine could lose the war by the end of the year.
Kiev’s “thank you” and Biden’s “hurry up”.
The resolution in Congress, which now awaits the approval of the Senate, was quick to praise several European leaders, most prominent of course Volodymyr Zelensky. “Thank you, America!” the president of Ukraine wrote on Twitter about the “vital US bill that will prevent the expansion of the war and save thousands of lives”.
At the same time, however, several Ukrainian officials who wanted to welcome the vote also expressed concern about when that aid would arrive in the country, at a time when, as Politico reports, Ukrainian leaders and military officials they suspect that Russia will launch an attack in June or July. One of them, when asked about the time this would take, replied that it depends on many factors. “It can take weeks and months.”
Related Article
Another MP from the opposition, Ina Sobsun, expressed her wonder why it took so long to pass the bill. “We are grateful! Just one question: did it need to be delayed half a year to be voted on? How many lives could have been saved?” he tweeted.
Joe Biden himself, for his part, immediately after the vote, urged the Senate “to quickly send this package to my office so that I can sign it into law and we can quickly send weapons and equipment to Ukraine to meet their urgent needs on the battlefield”.
The ball in the E.U.
Among the European leaders and officials who praised the passage of the aid package, there were some who warned that more support is urgently needed from Europe in the face of expected severe Russian attacks in the coming months.
As Politico reports, the entire process that preceded it in the US, has prompted Europe in recent weeks to explore additional military aid for Ukraine.
Several used the US vote to call on Europe not to become complacent. “We hope this vote will encourage all allies to look into their reserves and do more,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told X.
Related Article
“Now is the time to remember that the EU must increase its own production of weapons, ammunition and supplies to help Ukraine in the long term,” said Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström. “Tonight’s vote shows the necessity of this. We must also do our duty”, he added.
His Czech counterpart, Jan Lipavsky, said for his part: “Europe must do more. Our hesitation and indecision to effectively support Ukraine only encourages the Kremlin to further aggression that costs more lives.
Let us recall that the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, before even passing the resolution by the US House, had underlined that the countries of the European Union must send their anti-missile systems to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses as Russia pounds its cities. “Otherwise Ukraine’s power system will be destroyed. And a country cannot fight without having electricity in homes, in factories, for the internet, for everything,” he added.
Meeting of European Foreign Ministers on Monday
Tomorrow, Monday, the EU’s 27 foreign ministers will gather in Luxembourg to plan future military aid to Kiev.
Ukraine’s foreign and defense ministers are scheduled to participate online in the discussion.
The Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Gerapetritis, will also be in Luxembourg.
The agenda of the council includes the crisis in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine, for which there will be an exchange of views, via teleconference, between the ministers of foreign affairs and defense of the member states of the European Union with the ministers of foreign affairs and defense of Ukraine. Dmytro Kuleba and Rustem Umerov.
