KYIV, Ukraine – During the war with Russia, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, complained about the reluctance of the United States to provide the powerful and precise weapons his country needed. Until recently, he didn’t have to worry that the flow might be reduced or even cut off.
But in the weeks leading up to Election Day in the United States, with a flurry of predictions about Republicans wiping out both houses of Congress, those concerns became uncomfortably real as the Party’s top leaders Republic talks about review “empty check” policy towards Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials, educated in American politics and in need of bipartisan support, remained steadfastly apolitical in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s vote. On Wednesday, as the predicted red wave seemed more rippling, officials expressed cautious optimism that the existential threat of an aid cut has eased.
Volodymyr Ariev, a lawmaker from the opposition European Solidarity Party, said of particular concern would be the size of victory for far-left or far-right candidates, Democrats or Republicans, who criticized Ukraine aid or advocated a quick diplomatic solution. consequences for the Ukrainian government.
“We understand one thing: The danger we see from the so-called radical wing of the whole country,” said Ariev, who is organizing a delegation of Ukrainian lawmakers to visit Washington in December. two parties, the far-right and the far-left Republicans. Democratic Party member. They can start a conversation about stopping aid to Ukraine.”
Ukraine should strive to maintain bipartisan support regardless of the outcome, he said. “We need to stay in touch and communicate with both sides. We need to renew, strengthen, and talk to both sides for support.”
The United States is by far the largest supplier of foreign weapons to the Ukrainian Army. But throughout the war, the Biden administration carefully balanced its arms support to Ukraine, limiting its more powerful and longer-range weapons out of concern that Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory could drag NATO into the war.
However, the United States has ramped up ever more powerful and sophisticated artillery and missile launchers as the war rages on, and just this week delivered a top-of-the-line anti-aircraft missile system. , called NASAM, to protect against missile attacks and is made by Iran. Drones over cities and power plants.
Ariev said the delegation would include about a dozen members of Parliament from the ruling party, the Servant of the People, and the main opposition parties, European Solidarity, Fatherland and Holos. They will attend a security conference and seek meetings with newly elected US lawmakers from the Democratic and Republican parties, he said.
Mr. Ariev said he would propose a greater role for the US Congress and government agencies in monitoring US military and financial aid inside Ukraine, to “remove the doubts that we have heard during the campaign that it was not transparent.”
“We should trust our partners just as much as our partners trust us, it has to be a common thing,” he added.
But they’re not entirely sure who their partner will be.
During a White House midterm news conference on Wednesday, President Biden emphasized that he believes foreign aid will continue uninterrupted to Ukraine.
So far, the majority of Republicans have supported aid to Ukraine in the nearly nine months since the invasion, voting for billions of dollars in military and financial assistance.
But the more conservative, America First side of the party was more threatening. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia told a rally of Trump supporters in Iowa last week that, “under Republicans, not another dime is going to Ukraine.” J.D. Vance, who won the Ohio Senate race, said while campaigning: “Ultimately, we have to stop the money going to Ukraine.”
And in the event that Republicans take over the House, Representative Kevin McCarthy, who stands to become the majority leader, has said the party will consider aid to Ukraine. “I think people will go into recession, and they won’t write a blank check to Ukraine,” he said last month.
The left-wing Democratic Party, the Progressive Caucus, published a letter in October asking Mr. Biden to pursue direct diplomatic negotiations with Russia over the war, despite Russia’s escalations over the fall . But the group quickly retracted the letter, saying it had been in preparation since June and released by mistake.
Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, visited Kyiv last week, offering assurances that the Biden administration would work with both sides to ensure military aid would continue after the election.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, said on Wednesday that he did not anticipate softening US support after the election.
“I have met many times with representatives of the Senate and the National Assembly, and each time the delegations have been bipartisan,” Mr. Resnikov said at a news conference. “I understand well that US support will also remain bipartisan and bicameral. Personally, I understand and feel that the overwhelming majority of the American people support Ukraine in this senseless war.”
Yehor Chernev, a member of Parliament with the ruling Democrats who will join the Ukrainian delegation, said he would seek to explain Ukraine’s security needs to newly elected members of Parliament.
He spoke of the Ukrainian government’s negotiations with its allies on the supply of more capable versions of the weapons Ukraine is currently using. “And, nothing has come up yet. We can explain why we really need these in our counterattack, because it will help us move faster. “
Chernev said he would also argue that military aid to Ukraine serves US security interests.
“We are ready to talk to all members of Congress and give our views, and provide more information and arguments that will change their stance on Ukraine,” he said. “The United States cannot allow Russia to win. It means dictators will win their wars. It will open a Pandora’s box in other parts of the world. Why not China next? “
