The White House cried foul this week. Money for Ukraine is about to run out and the coffers need to be refilled immediately, the government urged. “We cannot allow Putin to win,” President Joe Biden cried this Wednesday in an emergency appearance. But for Republicans in Congress it is as if they heard it raining.
Only a few hours after the president's speech it became clear that interest in supporting Kyiv is rapidly fading, at least among Republicans. Conservative senators blocked a sweeping emergency spending bill to subsidize the military effort in Ukraine, which also included Israel in its war against Hamas. They are more concerned about strengthening security on the southern border.
The result was 49 to 51, far from the ceiling of the 60 votes needed and with Senator Bernie Sanders on the side of the Republicans for being against unlimited funding for Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's executive does not change his tactics, which he described “immoral” and “violating international law.”
The difference is becoming more and more solidified. Democratic and Republican negotiators failed in an attempt to reach a compromise that would accommodate demands for additional military aid to Ukraine along with strict new policies to keep migrants out of the United States.
Biden had asked Republicans in his appearance to approve a $111 billion package, which included $50 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel. He maintained that he was willing to reach “a significant agreement” on provisions for the border with Mexico if Republicans gave their support to the funds destined for Kyiv. “It's surprising that Congress hasn't approved more money for Ukraine, but I'm not going to give up,” he stressed.
But in case anyone had any doubts, the Senate vote showed that Republicans have lost their appetite in the war against Putin. If this project had passed the necessary bar, its future would have been equally non-existent because in the Lower House, where the Trumpist group sets the tone, it has zero chance of receiving approval.
The failure of this initiative means that aid for Ukraine is practically impossible once the scarce resources that remain at this moment run out. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stressed that “Ukraine's ability to advance and defend itself will be substantially limited” if Congress does not soon approve an economic allocation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has clearly expressed “the notion that if US military aid is cut off, that will mean that Russia will defeat Russia,” Sullivan stressed.
The Pentagon, in part qualifying the urgency of the White House, considered that the money is still missing. According to their calculations, they can still continue with aid during the winter if the 4.8 billion they have available to send weapons to Kyiv are well managed.
Biden's prayers, however, did not resonate with Republicans, not even those most willing to help Ukraine and who position themselves against Putin. Conservatives as a whole blamed the stalemate on Democrats for rejecting their demands for border policy as a bargaining chip for Kyiv's financing.
