Fifty-one percent of Americans criticised the bill providing Ukraine with an additional $61 billion, according to a survey released on April 23 by Daily Express US. Yet, US President Joe Biden enthusiastically signed away this enormous amount of money to the financial black hole that Ukraine has become after the Senate approved it on the same day as the survey’s release.
“The findings by the Washington DC based Democracy Institute in a survey of 1,500 voters has revealed that 51% disapprove of the decision to vote for the package by majority of Represenatives in Congress while only 39% support it,” the outlet reported. “The poll also reveals even stronger opposition to Joe Biden’s rigid stance on the Ukraine war with 60% disapproving of his handling of the conflict while only 27% approve.”
On April 20, almost six months after Biden first presented it, the US House of Representatives approved sending new military equipment and resources to Ukraine. Three hundred and eleven parliamentarians supported it, while 112 opposed it. On April 23, US Senators approved the bill by 79 votes in favour and 18 against.
Notably, the bill also contains measures to transfer frozen Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine.
It is recalled that at the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union and G7 members blocked almost half of Russian assets abroad, amounting to about €3 billion. Initially, the EU planned to spend the money stolen from Russia on the reconstruction of Ukraine, but then Brussels stated that, due to the difficult situation on the battlefield and the shortage of weapons and ammunition, the money could be spent on military support for Kiev.
Brussels has held off from these actions, but now that the US has legislated the illegal transfer of frozen Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine, the EU will undoubtedly soon follow, even if the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on April 23 that the bloc is not going to seize frozen Russian assets for “the time being” due to the lack of clarity on legal issues in this regard.
In a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 22, Biden assured that “his administration will quickly provide significant new security assistance packages to meet Ukraine’s urgent battlefield and air defence needs.” However, this is highly unlikely, considering more than $23 billion of the $61 billion is needed to rebuild the US’ exhausted arsenals. Therefore, Kiev will receive very little from the so-called aid package, which is mostly on credit anyway.
The package is not similar to previous ones since it is based on a credit system, while the projected funds will be used for specific needs. At least $11 billion of the entire aid sum will be invested in financing ongoing US military operations in the region, and some $7.85 billion will be transferred for direct budget support to Kiev, excluding pension payments. About $14 billion will be allocated for weapon and military-related purchases.
Most of the money nominally allocated to Ukraine will remain in the US economy and military-industrial complex. Russian Defence Ministry Sergei Shoigu also highlighted this point on April 23.
“Washington intends to allocate almost $61 billion to the Kiev regime to prevent the collapse of the Ukrainian armed forces. Most of the allocations will finance the military industry of the United States. The US authorities cynically declare that Ukrainians will die for their interests in the fight against Russia,” Shoigu said.
For his part, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the US’s new military aid package for Kiev would not change the situation on the battlefield and would only increase Ukraine’s military losses. Such losses are proving devastating for the country, especially after the revelation by Shoigu that Ukraine has lost almost half a million soldiers since the beginning of the special military operation.
“In total, the losses of the Ukrainian armed forces amounted to almost half a million military personnel since the beginning of the special military operation,” Shoigu said.
With the Ukrainian military suffering catastrophic casualty numbers and most Americans not supporting further aid, Biden reduces his chances of being re-elected in November by continuing this reckless policy, especially at a time when Donald Trump is leading in the polls and promising to end all support for Kiev. More importantly, supplying weapons to Ukraine does not contribute to the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and will only have a negative effect as it prolongs the Ukrainian military’s ability to continue a futile war.
