If the military and financial support for Ukraine was until now one of the rare subjects of consensus in American public life, certain voices, on the left as on the right, now rise for a change in the foreign policy of Joe Biden.
With our correspondent in Washington, Guillaume Naudin
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden and his administration have worked to build and maintain the alliance forged between Westerners and Ukraine. US military assistance to Ukraine currently stands at $40 billion, with $11.2 billion still to be approved by Democrats and Republicans.
But Joe Biden must now turn his efforts and his attention within his own presidential party. Thirty elected members of the left wing of the House of Representatives sent a letter, made public on Monday, to the tenant of the White House, to suggest that he change his strategy vis-à-vis Ukraine and open a negotiation channel with Russia.
The missive triggered an outcry within the Democratic Party and was withdrawn in disaster on Tuesday, pleading the error of publication by a parliamentary collaborator. The elected officials concerned also declared that they regretted that their initiative had given the impression of a ” alignment with certain personalities from the Republican camp.
No “blank check” to Ukraine, according to the Republicans
Last week, Kevin McCarthy, House Republican Minority Leader, warned that his party would not sign ” blank check to Ukraine if the Republicans win the midterm elections in November.
However, within the Republican Party, the question of Ukraine divides. Some pro-Trump Republicans have criticized military assistance to Ukraine, such as Georgia lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, who accused the US president of sending ” dollars earned by the sweat of their brow by American taxpayers “. On the contrary, the leader of the Republicans in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, has meanwhile pledged to do even more for Ukraine, and to ” dispatch weapons in kyiv, including missiles capable of reaching Russian territory.
For its part, the White House reiterates its course of action: nothing will be decided on Ukraine without Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be the first decision maker to open negotiations with Russia.
(And with AFP)