Five Crucial Points On US Aid To Ukraine

Advocates for increased US aid have pointed out that much of the military assistance to Ukraine actually supports the US defense industry . Those advocates also argue that the war in Ukraine is devastating Russia's military assets , and the current approach is much cheaper than facing an expansionist Russia.

But critics argue that the unprecedented amounts of US military aid to Ukraine are draining US military stockpiles and potentially degrading military readiness.

Others have called for additional oversight for aid to Ukraine, given the country's history of government corruption.

The current request before the House includes $105 billion in security assistance for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the US southern border, with more than $61 billion of the package for Ukraine. In comparison, $6.4 billion is being requested for US border operations.

This aid package is separate from the defense appropriations bill passed by the Senate on December 13 and the House on December 14, which includes $600 million in military aid for Ukraine and funding for the creation of a special inspector general to oversee aid to Ukraine. That bill awaits President Joe Biden's signature.

Voting on the special funding request was initially delayed by the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy . But current Speaker Mike Johnson has done little to advance a vote, despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's December 2023 meetings in Washington, DC , with Biden and members of Congress to plead for more assistance.

The House Republican leadership has refused to pass the Biden administration's emergency aid bill without additional commitments for increased security at the southern border of the US.

Some lawmakers remain opposed to an additional emergency spending bill and would rather see this Ukraine aid integrated into the regular budgetary process in 2024. Regardless of the reasoning, with Congress' holiday recess fast approaching, it is unlikely that the current impasse will be resolved before 2024.

One option is for Ukraine to seek increased contributions from other supportive nations.

So far, 46 countries have provided some form of military aid to Ukraine. Those countries include the UK, France and Germany, as well as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Bulgaria.

Japan has contributed more than $7 billion in economic assistance during the war. In all, the European Union has provided the lion's share of financial assistance at almost $80 billion.

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But no other country has the military resources at its disposal to even come close to matching the level of military assistance that Congress is currently considering. Further delay in US military assistance, or a radical decrease in the amount proposed, will have significant impacts on Ukraine's ability to fight the war.

5. Where do the presidential candidates stand on Ukraine aid?

While Biden, of course, is a strong supporter of Ukraine, Republican presidential candidates have been airing a wide range of views on additional aid to Ukraine.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is a strong supporter of US aid to Ukraine, for example, while former president Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are against it .

Even if the Russia-Ukraine war ends in 2024, congressional debates over assistance to Ukraine will continue, no matter who is elected president. That's because the US is likely to be one of the primary donors helping to rebuild Ukraine, which already has suffered an estimated $150 billion in war-related damage.

Jessica Trisko Darden is Associate Professor of Political Science, Virginia Commonwealth University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

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