President Biden expressed confidence Wednesday that next year’s Congress — likely with at least one chamber under Republican control – will maintain robust U.S. support for Ukraine. But his certainty is not shared by many on Capitol Hill and in Kyiv. The struggle inside the GOP could have a massive impact on Ukraine’s fight for survival against Russia.
At his post-election news conference, Biden defended his administration’s support for Kyiv, maintaining that he had not given Ukraine a “blank check” and bragging that “there’s a lot of things that Ukraine wants we didn’t do.” He also said that he expects Republicans in the House, likely to be led next year by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), to come out in favor of continued aid to Ukraine.
“I would be surprised if Leader McCarthy even has a majority of his Republican colleagues who say they’re not going to fund the legitimate defensive needs of Ukraine,” he said.
Biden either doesn’t know or doesn’t want to acknowledge that there’s no agreement in Congress on what the words “legitimate” or “defensive” mean in this context. What’s clear is that the congressional path to approving new Ukraine aid next year will be rocky.
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