Few Biden administration officials or lawmakers say the $60 billion package means Ukraine walks away from the battlefield with its country fully restored.
The most immediate package headed to Ukraine will total $1 billion and include long-range Army Tactical Missile System weapons that Kyiv has long wanted. | Mstyslav Chernov/APDespite the time and political capital spent on the $60 billion aid for Ukraine, some Biden administration officials are skeptical it’s enough for Ukraine to win its two-year war with Russia.
“The immediate goal is to stop Ukrainian losses and help Ukraine regain momentum and turn the tide on the battlefield. After that, the goal is to help Ukraine begin to regain its territory,” said one of the officials. “Will they have what they need to win? Ultimately, yes. But it’s not a guarantee that they will. Military operations are much more complicated than that.”
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby hinted Tuesday that Ukraine still doesn’t have a fully formed plan to defeat Russia, though the U.S. would be in talks to help crystalize one. “We’ll be able to continue to have conversations with the Ukrainians about what their longer-term strategy is for pushing back Russian aggression and then tailoring the packages to meet those needs,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The Biden administration laments that months of congressional deliberation deprived Ukraine of weaponry to push back on Russia, placing it on the backfoot during crucial months of war. “Given how Ukraine’s battlefield position was hurt while there was no U.S. aid flowing,” the U.S. expects to see Russia’s territorial advances slow before Ukraine has a chance at making headway in the months ahead, the first U.S. official said.
In the six months it took the Republican-led House to pass the Ukraine aid, senior members of Biden’s team — from CIA Director Bill Burns to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin — asserted that Ukraine would lose the war in 2024 without additional offensive and defensive materiel from the West. Without that support, the most Ukraine could do was defend its dug-in positions, though the U.S. expected better-equipped Russian forces would eventually push through the lines to take more land.
“The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is challenging the global order and our way of life. In times like these, it is crucial that we as democracies with shared values stand up united to authoritarian systems – as we do today, as we will tomorrow,” Andreas Michaelis, Germany’s ambassador in Washington,Many analysts of the conflict insist the win-or-not-lose dichotomy is contrived.
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