2023-09-24 17:18:00
LOOK: Zelensky’s strong warnings regarding Russia in his first in-person speech to the UN: what is Ukraine’s strategy?
The Ukrainian leader’s visit to the US capital comes two days following he appeared for the first time in person before the UN General Assembly and before the Security Council a day later. At both meetings held in New York, Zelensky urged members to take “specific measures” once morest Russia and joined the voices calling for reform of the Security Council.
Zelensky was the most applauded president during his speech at the UN. A scene that he recalled in December 2022, when the Ukrainian leader arrived unexpectedly in Washington in what represented his first official departure from his country since the start of the war.
On that occasion, Zelensky appeared before a Congress that gave him a standing ovation and that maintained bipartisan support for the support that was sent from Washington to kyiv. Today, the scenario looks quite different.
The first voices once morest
On Wednesday night, hours before Zelensky left for Washington, a “massive” Russian attack was recorded on several Ukrainian cities that left at least 3 dead in Kherson and another 7 in Kiev. For the first time in six months, energy facilities in the west and center of the country were damaged during the attacks, causing power outages in several regions.
The situation has revived Ukrainians’ fear of facing a harsh winter if Russia resumes a campaign of attacks once morest power plants, which would plunge the civilian population into darkness and cold, as happened during the winter of 2022.
On the same Thursday morning, meanwhile, 23 members of the House and six senators, all of them Republicans, sent a letter to the White House Management Office questioning the approval of an additional $24 billion in military aid and humanitarian for Ukraine.
The Ukrainian leader’s visit to the US capital comes two days following he appeared in person for the first time before the UN General Assembly.
“A part of the Republicans has been distancing itself (from the Ukrainian issue) for some time. They say that aid cannot be unlimited and that at some point it must end. Over time, that feeling has grown. You might say that there is a certain fatigue and not only in the United States but also in other countries. The war is dragging on for a long time and there is no end in sight,” internationalist and director of the Institute of European Studies at the University of Piura (Udep), Enrique Banús, tells El Comercio.
In the letter, the legislators recall that since the start of the war the United States has allocated $114 billion in supplementary funds to Kiev and “the countries affected by the situation,” although this amount “does not reflect the full picture, which includes funds transferred and reprogrammed.”
The request coincides not only with Zelensky’s visit to the capital, but also with a debate that has been taking place in Congress to approve the allocation of said funds.
The sending of a new package, something that until last year would have been processed without problems, is now experiencing a new sensation among politicians. The duration of the war and the few results obtained by Ukraine during its counteroffensive launched a few months ago, added to the fact that the Lower House is now controlled by the Republicans and the conservative wing has gained power within said party, complicate the terrain for the Ukrainians. .
The head of the Republicans in the Lower House, Kevin McCarthy, had anticipated on Tuesday that he would question Zelensky regarding how the funds sent to them since the start of the war have been used and “what is his strategy for victory?” .
In any case, there will have to be a response before October 1 since the issue is decisive for approving the new budget in Congress. If at least a provisional finance law is not obtained by that date, the US government would once once more find itself facing a new budget paralysis.
“We must not forget that the elections are approaching and everyone declares with an electoral strategy. In the United States, Trump is making a strong comeback and his skepticism regarding support for Ukraine is clear. Some positions are moving closer to that position, to see if they can gain some votes. The same thing is happening in Poland where they will hold elections in October,” analyzes Banús.
Friction with Poland
Fed up or misunderstanding?
Zelensky has not only encountered resistance to more support in the United States. The Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, one of its main European allies so far, said on Wednesday that its country would not supply more weapons to the Ukrainians because they will modernize their own arsenal. The statement came amid tensions between Warsaw and kyiv over an embargo on imports of Ukrainian grain in defense of Polish farmers.
Added to this are Zelensky’s statements before the UN, in which he accused some countries of “feigning solidarity with Ukraine” but “indirectly supporting Russia.” These words led to the “urgent” summoning of the Ukrainian ambassador in Warsaw by the Polish government.
On Thursday, however, the impasse seemed to be resolved with statements by President Andrzej Duda assuring that Morawiecki’s statements “were interpreted in the worst possible sense.”
“It is the new classic, every time something is said that is later criticized it is argued that it was misinterpreted. But usually there is some truth, perhaps it was not intended to be said so clearly or so strongly, but there is something. I believe that Poland cannot leave to support Ukraine because they are very close and because they know what it means for Russia to become stronger,” says Banús.
A deal -although incomplete- that serves
Despite the feared resistance to his requests, Zelensky’s visit concluded with a positive outcome. During their closed-door meeting in Congress, the president received at least two ovations, according to Democratic Senator Chris Murphy.
Republican Michael McCaul, head of the House Foreign Relations Committee, meanwhile, said he was confident that the $24 billion in aid would be approved despite pressure from the conservative wing.
After its meeting with Biden, in addition, the White House announced that it will supply Ukraine with more air defense weapons, although they ruled out for the moment sending the long-awaited ATACMS long-range missiles that Zelensky has been asking Washington for months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended the Capitol this Thursday to meet with both Democratic and Republican parliamentarians.
The US resistance to sending the ATACMS is due to the range of these weapons, estimated at 300 kilometers, since they consider that they might be used by the Ukrainians to attack Russian towns and provoke retaliation from Moscow once morest Washington.
In exchange, both the US, France and England have preferred to send HIMARS, SCALP and Storm Shadow missiles respectively, which have a range of around 80 kilometers and would be enough to defend once morest bombing.
However, aware that the urgency to support Ukraine might be cooling in the West, Biden promised that he will “make sure the world supports” Kiev.
Banús explains that at this time the support of the West is vital for Ukraine, since “the Russian side is playing other games.”
“(Russia) is trying to get allies like in its reunion with North Korea or in Africa. In Africa he plays a very clear game, the continent has destabilized dramatically in recent months leading to the almost disappearance of France from the board, being replaced by Russia and China. “It is a worrying situation,” says the expert.
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