Ukraine remains standing as fighting enters its 10th month, but new tests for the Biden administration, at home and abroad, are rising just as the temperatures drop in Eastern Europe
Ukrainian soldiers fire a Pion artillery system at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine. | LIBKOS/AP PhotoThe White House is steeling itself for new challenges posed by a winter of war in Ukraine and an incoming Republican House majority promising to curb funding to Kyiv.
Most immediately, the administration is leaning on Congress now to pass more Ukraine funding in the omnibus spending bill currently being negotiated. The Defense Department is also weighing sending other weapons, such as kits that would convert unguided aerial munitions into smart bombs, as well as explosives that would significantly extend Ukraine’s strike range. There are also, according to officials, discussions underway to expand training for Ukraine’s military at a U.S. base in Germany.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive, so successful when launched in late summer, has stalled along both the southern and eastern fronts, allowing Russian forces to dig in. The cold winter has slowed the fighting — which has devolved into World War I-style trench warfare — but Ukrainian military officials this week warned that recent Russian troop and tank movements could telegraph another major assault in the weeks ahead, perhaps even toward Kyiv.
The Western alliance, though continuing to side with Kyiv, has been strained by an energy crisis and fears of recession.
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