By Ilan Hulkower. Media: DC Enquirer.
Note: This article may contain commentary reflecting the author’s opinion.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, informed congressional lawmakers that more money was needed to support Ukraine against Russia and that such money should be sent by June, according to Newsmax. General Milley warns that failure to do so would leave Ukraine unable to sustain its fight against Russia.
As Newsmax notes, Congress allotted $45 billion to Ukraine back in December and that in total Congress has already appropriated a rough total of $112 billion in military and economic support to Ukraine last year. Newsmax further noted that āthe munitions and money from that [$45 billion] appropriation is being used up at a faster rate than had been expected.ā Biden, when he was in Kyiv, said he has provided Ukraine with another roughly $460 million for its defense.
As Statista shows, American military aid to Ukraine in 2022 has already exceeded the costs of American military spending in the Afghan War from 2001-2010. An article in The Telegraph reveals that Russia is already outproducing the West in munitions. The war has already depleted American capacity to provide Ukraine with certain munitions. Carlos Del Toro, Bidenās Navy Secretary, warned that the current American weapons production would find it āchallengingā to arm both the United States and Ukraine if production does not ramp up.
Similar warnings were made by Josep Borrell, the head of the European Unionās foreign policy, when he said that āthe military stocks of most [EU] member states has been, I wouldnāt say exhausted, but depleted in a high proportion, because we have been providing a lot of capacity to the Ukrainians.ā Adding to the headaches of the Western munition production was the prospect that China might soon join Russiaās side in providing lethal aid. Such is the concern uttered by William Burns, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, who recently revealed that he is āconfident that the Chinese leadership is considering the provision of lethal equipmentā to Russia.
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a notable advocate for Ukrainian aid, argued a form of the domino theory when he wrote āit is not an act of charity for the United States and our NATO allies to help supply the Ukrainian peopleās self-defense. It is a direct investment in our own core national interestsā¦If Putin were given a green light to destabilize Europe, invading and killing at will, the long-term cost to the United States in both dollars and security risks would be astronomically higher than the minuscule fraction of our GDP that we have invested in Ukraineās defense thus far.ā
The aged senator further added that āIt is not enough to do the right things; we need to do the right things at the right speed. The Biden Administration and our allies must act more decisively to ensure that both our collective assistance to Ukraine and the investments we each make in our own militaries take place at the speed of relevance.ā
Many in the Republican party have a different view of what ought to be done. Donald Trump, the 45th president and a Republican aspirant for the White House in 2024, warned that the warās prolongation increases the possibility of World War III and called for serious peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) said, āwe cannot meet Ukrainian, Taiwanese, and our own military requirements all at the same time, for the foreseeable future. In other words, we canāt do everything.ā He further complained that further aid to Ukraine is ānot in Americaās interests.ā Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) also questioned the strategic thinking behind writing blank checks to Ukraine.
