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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
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.
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the majority has spoken: no more tax dollars to the nazis
that poll is phony. ask the right question: “should america oppose russian wars of aggression” and 95% will answer:yes.
ronald reagan remains the saint of the republican party and unless trump channels reagan and opposes the axis of evil just like reagan opposed the evil empire, trump will lose, and he knows it.
you mean if you ask the right people like the neocons? nobody wants to live in poverty with open borders and high inflation to help some country which location they can’t even point out on a map.
you mean after 10 years people still can’t find ukraine on a map?
we will send all our useless eaters tax money for the nazis, and you will like it.
and to the jihadis and jiddish nazis also.
no more foodstamps, go work at rtx!
🤡 😆😆😆
senator leahy tried that and got booted out of office for it. now he’s an ice fisherman on one of vermont’s frozen lakes. it worked so well that the israel lobby is going to do the same with bernie sanders, the self-hating jew.
fake news, americans are committed to rolling back pooh-tin’s aggression…
heheheh
fake news…? that jewish gay clown stealing that money with his gang?
lol you braindead moron.
its a really funny “rollback” while the front moves westwards constantly day by day.
hahahahaaa you pc of hasbara shit.
he’s a new endangered species, a hasbeen hasbandera shit.
many american should be committed, that’s very true.
more and more is coming, until the nazis are pushed back to laughable third world country ruzzia 😀
why would they go to russia when canada has the welcome mat rolled out for them?
germany, italy and japan have earned to be stooges, they must be slaves without will, cause they lost to many wars, but the united hippos of america have had countless choices, cause only those hippos have the right to bear arms for the preservation of their lifes, liberties and dignities. the only decision they made anyways, was to consume and become the hippos that they are.
that $61 bn could do a lot more for american… but jews 1st.
your comment once again underlining russian fascism using same antisemitic slurs as nsdap.
but, but…….what about all those 1488 banderites celebrating babi yar day?
putin’s snail blitzkrieg – 2 inch per day to kiev😭🤪🤣
they just enjoy watching syrsky sending troops from place to place in a panic trying to plug ukraine’s butt hole. i know, it’s a bit kinky but jens would appreciate it.
hopes in moscow of an early victory again in ukraine have surely been dashed now, again. but the way that the house vote got over the line – western politicians (cameron, duda et al) kissing the ring in maro lago – and then trump’s last minute suggestion that even he understood the importance of supporting ukraine, will surely worry moscow that trump cannot actually be trusted to pull the plug on support for ukraine.
it’s sure a good thing ukrainians are there to shed their blood, otherwise russia would be in paris by now, screaming bistro, bistro in the cafes.
this should entail continued longer range missile strikes on crimea, russian naval operations in black sea, re-supply routes into ukraine and attacks on infrastructure in russia itself (oil refineries et al). the ambition here should be to make occupation so debilitating for russia that putin is forced to sue for peace.
tarring and feathering putler. humiliating russian ultra nationalist fascists.
what negotiations ist russia still talking about?
theres nothing anymore to negotiate about.
free asap all of donbas, free all of the southwestcoast wirh odessa with landlink to transnistria and destroy all ukro heavy arms, bases and military infrasteucture.
russian imperialist chauvinism. no wonder why almost whole europe is now nato.
is that another polish joke, stankowicz?