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Another day, another series of developments forecasting a hard future for the formidable international coalition that’s been sustaining the Ukrainian war effort for 20 months.
On the one hand, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in testimony in the Senate, left it clear just how much Ukraine is dependent on American help – in a way that would have been unimaginable a few months ago.
On the other hand, Republican member of the Armed Services Committee, Senator from Alabama, Tommy Tuberville, unambiguously called the moment as perfect for peace negotiations.
Taken side-by-side, these two developments show just how much the geopolitical conditions have changed from before the failed Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Secretary Austin stated plainly that Russia would be successful in Ukraine unless the United States kept up its support for Kiev.
Reuters reported:
“Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken testified to the Senate Appropriations Committee on President Joe Biden’s request for $106 billion to fund ambitious plans for Ukraine, Israel and U.S. border security.
‘I can guarantee that without our support (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will be successful’, Austin said during the hearing. ‘If we pull the rug out from under them now, Putin will only get stronger and he will be successful in doing what he wants to do’.”
The Biden administration requested $61.4 billion for Ukraine, but so far seems unlikely to get it.
“Congress has already approved $113 billion for Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022. The White House has said it has less than $5.5 billion in funds to continue transferring weapons from U.S. stockpiles to Ukrainian forces fighting Russia.”
The Republicans who control the House of Representatives, and some senators, will not agree to combining Ukrainian and Israeli aid packages in the same bill.
“Austin said the Biden administration wanted Ukraine to continue operations through the winter, but Kyiv could not do that if they were forced to pause because of a lack of U.S. support.”
Meanwhile, Senator Tommy Tuberville of the Armed Services Committee, took to the TV to warn that the war in Ukraine is ‘costing American taxpayers an arm and a leg’, and declared that ‘We have to get this conflict over with’.
Fox Business reported:
“‘Right now would be a great time to negotiate over in Ukraine and Moscow to get this thing stopped, because they pretty much have a stalemate as we speak’, Tuberville said on ‘Kudlow’. There’s not going to be a lot of fighting happening. We have got to get this conflict over with. It is costing American taxpayers an arm and a leg, and it’s costing a lot of lives in Ukraine and Russia. There is no reason to have this.”
After the Hamas terror attack early October, the middle Eastern conflict has totally eclipsed the war in Ukraine
“House Republicans have rolled out a bill giving $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, while cutting into cash President Biden allocated toward the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) last year. The bill put newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. at odds with the Democrat-controlled Senate and White House, both of which are pushing for Israel aid to be tied with dollars for Ukraine’s defense against Russia.”
Tuberville criticized the state of the world under Biden’s watch to FOX Business host Larry Kudlow.
“‘If you’re talking about chaos, Larry, there is chaos all over the world, and I don’t think Joe Biden can spell ‘chaos,’ but he’s managed to ride the fence long enough, to put everybody, I mean everybody around the world, in harm’s way’, he said.”
Tuberville insisted that he supports defending the national security of the United States, warning the conflict in Israel may import the attacks to America.
“‘Now I’m also for giving money, but I’m also closing our border, because Larry, the first thing that we should have done as soon as this happened is close our borders’, he said. ‘There are over 2-300,000 Middle Eastern people that have crossed that border in the last two-and-a-half years. We’re in trouble, this country is in trouble. We’re gonna have a 9/11 a month if we don’t watch it, but Joe Biden couldn’t care less. His administration is asleep at the wheel’.”
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