Some Ukrainians Think GOP Talk About Cutting Ukraine Aid Is All Bluster

Republicans have spent most of this year complaining about last December’s $1.7 trillion spending bill.

While the bill was called a budget-crushing and inflationary boondoggle by Republicans, a group of bipartisan party leaders added money to the Ukraine war-related portion of the bill while it was being negotiated, increasing it from $38 billion to $45 billion. , with blessings and encouragement from some key Republicans.

“We have to see what the Republicans in power say and do,” said Mykola Murskyj, director of government affairs with Razom for Ukraine, a US-based civil society group.

“By adding additional requests from the President, by demanding that the president send these advanced systems — long-range systems, tanks, drones that the administration doesn’t want to send — it’s the Republicans who are leading the charge for the administration to send these things,” he said.

Oleksiy Goncharenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament from the Odesa region, said there were some initial concerns when the House went to the Republicans, including some who had vowed that Ukraine would not receive any more money from the United States.

“I don’t want to lie, some Ukrainians are very afraid that after the Republicans become the majority in the House of Representatives, things may not change for the better,” Goncharenko said in an email. “But we clearly see that this is not the case.”

Still, signs of “Ukraine weakness” – the weariness of continued support for the country observed on the anniversary of the brutal attack by Russia – has grown overall, but especially among the Republicans. Polls end of January found only 39% of Republicans agreed to send weapons to Ukraine, and only 21% agreed to send money there.

But for Ukrainians and their allies, the hope is that the loudest voices on the right – House Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and presidential candidate Donald Trump – do not reflect the sentiments of the majority of their own party ahead.

That could be a slender reed to cling to, even in the last few weeks.

At February 2 interview with talk radio host Hugh HewittTrump all but firmly said that aid should be cut off from the Ukrainians to force them to the bargaining table.

Asked directly if the U.S. should stop helping Ukraine, Trump said, “It has to stop, and it has to stop now. And it’s not going to stop if we keep stuffing it.”

Even more recently, Trump has warned that the US is approaching “World War III,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons in the conflict.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, an undeclared but likely contender for the GOP presidential nomination, recently took a softer line on Russia, telling Fox News, “I don’t think it’s in our interest to get involved in a proxy war with China, getting involved in things like border or in Crimea. (“borderlands” DeSantis called has been internationally recognized since 1991.)

In the House, the concern was a group of hard-right Republican lawmakers who took various promises from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in exchange for allowing him to have a gavel will also force him to cut aid to Ukraine. McCarthy said Ukraine will not have a “blank check.”

Greene proposed that the administration be forced to turn over documents and communications about aid negotiations, and some Republicans criticized President Joe Biden’s surprise trip to Kyiv ahead of the anniversary of the war.

But Ukrainians say that they remain outliers and that support for Ukraine is generally still bipartisan, even as the amount of money spent has increased. The Council on Foreign Relations has approximately $46.6 billion has been sent to Ukraine in the form of military aid through January, with additional amounts for humanitarian and financial aid.

Republican critics often cite the figure of $113 billion, ignoring that this number includes aid to Ukraine but also aid to surrounding countries to help them cope with the influx of Ukrainian refugees, buy new weapons for the US to replace equipment borrowed or sent to Ukraine, and money to reposition NATO forces in Europe in response to the war.

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, did not discriminate against Republicans when asked Friday about the decline in GOP support in an appearance with U.S. International Development Administrator Samantha Power.

“I think the argument for the American people is the same, regardless of whether they are Democrats or Republicans or independents,” he said.

The argument is that it is morally necessary to expel Russia as well as “existential to the rule of international law” if Russia is to be defeated, he said. It also provides the best money for defense spending, he added.

“God is not asleep [Putin] to other countries, especially NATO countries, will be more expensive,” he said.

Walking away from Ukraine now will have dire consequences, Power said. “I also think it will also help us maintain the very strong bipartisan majority that we’ve seen for support this year,” he said.

Razom’s Murskyj said too much attention has been focused on the loud but minority opposition in the House Republicans and not enough what he called “three Mikes,” Reps. Mike McCaul (Texas), Mike Turner (Ohio) and Mike Rogers (Ala. ), chairman of the Council Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Armed Services.

He said all three support Ukraine, have significant influence in the party, and unlike many critics of Ukraine, have congressional jurisdiction over Ukraine.

Goncharenko also pointed to one of the “Mikes,” McCaul, who met at the recent Munich Security Conference. “Rep. McCaul is very determined to support Ukraine,” he said.

At joint statement thereA trio of GOP House lawmakers called on the Biden White House to go further by providing weapons:

“President Biden needs to stop dragging his feet on providing aid that could cause this war. The half-steps the Biden administration is taking will only increase the cost of this war in lives and dollars.