Some Ukrainians believe that the GOP’s talk of cutting off aid from Ukraine is an illusion

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

While the bill was seen by Republicans as a budget-cutting and inflation-boosting weakness, a bipartisan group of party leaders added money to the Ukraine war portion of the bill while it was being negotiated, increasing – it from 38 billion dollars to 45 billion dollars. , with the blessing and emboldening key Republicans.

“We need to look at what the Republicans in power are saying and doing,” said Mykola Murskyj, director of government affairs at Razom Ukraine, a US civil society group.

“By strengthening the president’s request for additional appropriations, asking the president to send these more advanced systems — long-range systems, tanks, drones that the administration doesn’t want to send — Republicans are leading the charge so that the administration you’re sending . these articles,” he said.

Oleksiy Goncharenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament from the Odessa region, said there was initial concern when the House addressed Republicans, including some who promised Ukraine would stop receiving American money.

“I’m not going to lie, some Ukrainians were really worried that after the Republicans became the majority in the House of Representatives, something might not change for the better,” Goncharenko said in an email. “But we clearly see that this has not happened.”

Still, signs of “Ukrainian fatigue” — weariness over continued support for the country that marked the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion on Friday — have grown across the board, but especially among Republicans. A survey from the end of January found that only 39% of Republicans approve of sending weapons to Ukraine and only 21% approve of sending money there.

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

However, this may be an increasingly thin stick to hold on to given the past few weeks.

one February 2 interview with radio host Hugh HewittTrump has said almost explicitly that aid should be cut off for the Ukrainians to force them to come to the negotiating table.

Asked directly if the United States should stop helping Ukraine, Trump said: “This has to stop and it has to stop now. And it won’t stop if we keep uploading something.”

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

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an unannounced but likely challenger for the Republican presidential nomination, recently took a softer line on Russia, telling Fox News: “I don’t think it’s in our best interest to get into a proxy war ” with China, involvement in things like borders or Crimea”. (The “border countries” DeSantis refers to have been internationally recognized borders since 1991.)

In the House, the concern is the same group of far-right Republican lawmakers who have extorted various promises from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in exchange for being allowed to hammer him to lobby him to also cut aid to Ukraine. McCarthy said Ukraine would not receive “a blank check.”

Greene proposed that the administration be forced to turn over documents and communications on aid deliberations, and several Republicans criticized President Joe Biden’s surprise trip to Kiev ahead of the war’s anniversary.

But Ukrainians say these remain outliers and that support for Ukraine is largely bipartisan, even as the amount of money spent has increased. The Council for Foreign Relations has approximately $46.6 billion was sent to Ukraine in military aid until January, with additional amounts for humanitarian and financial assistance.

Republican critics have often cited a figure of $113 billion, neglecting to mention that this amount includes aid to Ukraine, but also aid to surrounding countries to help them deal with the influx of Ukrainian refugees, the purchase of new weapons to replace the U.S. United. equipment loaned or sent to Ukraine and money to redeploy NATO forces to Europe in response to the war.

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

“I think the case for the American people is the same whether they’re Democrats, Republicans or independents,” he said.

Those arguments are that it is the morally right thing to do to help push Russia back, and that it is also “essential to the rule of international law” that Russia be defeated, he said. It also provides the best return on defense spending, he added.

“God forbid if [Putin] going to other countries, especially NATO countries, will be much more expensive,” he said.

Leaving Ukraine now would have serious consequences, Power said. “I think that will also help us maintain the very, very strong bipartisan majorities that we’ve seen for support this year,” he said.

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

He said all three support Ukraine, have considerable influence within the party and, unlike many Ukrainian critics, have congressional jurisdiction over Ukraine.

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

one joint statement on Thursdaytrio of GOP lawmakers urged Biden’s White House to move forward with arms supply:

“President Biden must stop dragging his feet on providing the lethal aid needed to end this war. Continued actions by the Biden administration will only increase the cost of this war in lives and dollars.”