how political tensions in the American Congress block the vote – L’Express

Is this a sign that these tensions are being taken seriously on the kyiv side? Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was to participate in this closed-door briefing by videoconference, canceled his intervention at the last minute, without giving a reason.

Washington is the largest provider of military aid to Kiev, having committed tens of billions of dollars since the Russian invasion in February 2022. But Democratic President Joe Biden’s promise to continue financial support to Ukraine is in serious doubt. in danger.

A first procedural vote, scheduled for this Wednesday in Congress on a new gigantic military, humanitarian and macroeconomic component for kyiv, should fail unless there is a big surprise. Late Tuesday, Joe Biden expressed his growing frustration: “The inability to support Ukraine is simply absolutely insane. It is contrary to the interests of the United States,” declared the American president. “This is simply a mistake.”

The United States has been in the greatest budgetary limbo for months due to endless parliamentary turbulence. The Congress of the world’s leading power – made up of the Senate with a Democratic majority and the House of Representatives with a Republican majority – has still not voted on a budget for the fiscal year which began on October 1. The federal government is currently functioning thanks to an emergency extension which will expire in mid-January.

The White House sounded the alarm on Monday, assuring that American military aid to Ukraine could be cut sharply in the coming weeks, in the absence of a budget agreement with the Republican opposition. A halt to the flow of military aid to Ukraine from the United States would be a disaster scenario for Kiev and would let Vladimir Putin win the war, Joe Biden’s national security adviser said Monday at a press conference. , Jake Sullivan.

“Congress must decide whether to continue supporting the fight for freedom in Ukraine […]or whether he will ignore the lessons we have learned from history and allow Vladimir Putin to prevail,” said Jake Sullivan. “It’s as simple as that,” he said.

“If Congress does not act, by the end of the year we will run out of resources to deliver more weapons and equipment to Ukraine and to supply material from U.S. military stockpiles,” for her part wrote White House Budget Director Shalanda Young in a letter addressed to Mike Johnson, head of the House of Representatives, with a Republican majority.

Which returned the ball sharply to him on the social network on a way out of the conflict, or on how to supervise the use of American taxpayers’ money.

Shalanda Young’s letter was published at a time when Ukraine recognized the failure of its summer counter-offensive, and as Russia launched repeated assaults, particularly against the town of Avdiïvka, in the east of the country. “There is no magic funding available to address the emergency. We are running out of money and soon running out of time,” warns Shalanda Young in her letter.

Aware that the sense of urgency has faded in Washington since the start of the war, Joe Biden asked on October 20 to combine his request for aid for Ukraine – more than 61 billion dollars – with another around 14 billion for Israel, a historic ally of the United States in the war against Hamas.

But conservative elected officials, whose support for Ukraine’s war effort has declined considerably in recent months, with the 2024 presidential election looming, are making aid conditional on a clear tightening of migration policy. faced with the arrival of migrants at the border with Mexico. “I will not vote for any aid until we secure our border,” South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on CNN on Sunday. He added: “I will not help Ukraine until we help ourselves.”

Republicans have twice refused to include funding for the war in Ukraine in the bills, arguing that the issue should be related to border security. Their demands prompted the Biden administration to ask lawmakers for nearly $14 billion to hire additional Border Patrol agents and build detention centers, relieving the New York Times.

“They chose to jeopardize the financing of Ukraine and they will all have to live with this choice when Vladimir Putin marches on kyiv and on Europe,” criticized Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. “We can consider ourselves responsible for Ukraine’s defeat if we fail to provide this financing,” added American Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday, visiting Mexico. “Ukraine is simply running out of money,” she warned.

However, as indicated the New York Times, a dispute persists within the Biden administration over how urgently Ukraine needs additional aid. Some Pentagon officials, notes the American daily, said they were surprised by the assertion that the United States is short of funds to the extent that it continues to distribute approximately more than 100 million dollars of weapons and weapons every week. of ammunition from their stocks.

In any case, Ukrainian officials insist that they need more weapons to prevent Russian strikes from plunging millions of people into darkness this winter, like last year. Also anticipating the risk of weariness of the great American ally, Volodymyr Zelensky went to Washington in person last September, meeting Joe Biden but also elected representatives of Congress with whom he had long discussions.

His visit, however, did not have the desired effect: mired in a series of internal crises which led to the dismissal of the previous speaker, Congress ultimately did not approve new funds for its offensive. Will the current negotiations have a more favorable outcome? Regardless, the Ukrainian president does not hide his concerns. “We need three victories,” he said on November 24, adding: “The first is Congress. That’s a challenge.”