On November 18, Republican congresswoman Marjorie Green announced the introduction of a bill in Congress to audit the funds for support to Ukraine. Even at the pre-election debates, Green spoke about the need to stop military aid to Ukraine altogether
Meanwhile, Congressman Michael McCaul, who is likely to chair the foreign affairs committee in the new lower house of the US parliament, has previously said that Republicans advocate greater “control and accountability” over foreign aid, as well as the involvement of US allies.
“We are going to impose conditions as far as aid is concerned. For example, we will give you some assistance, but we want the burden to be borne by our NATO partners as well – so that this support can be provided not only by the US,” McCaul explained.
He noted, however, that “assistance to NATO and allies fits into the principle of ‘America first. “So does helping Ukraine – so that we don’t end up there ourselves. What we are trying to achieve in Ukraine is to avoid a global conflict,” he said.
Election issue
In October, Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republican minority in the House of Representatives, has admitted that the volume of funds allocated to Kiev may be reduced if his party succeeds in gaining control of the chamber after the congressional elections.
He justified this by the fact that amid the economic downturn, Americans are not eager to “write Ukraine a blank check” and there are a number of pressing problems inside the country that the Biden administration is ignoring.
“They are not addressing the issue (of border security. – RT) and people are starting to wonder. Ukraine is very important, but at the same time it cannot be the only problem they are dealing with, and you cannot write (it. – RT) a blank cheque,” the politician said.
White House chief Joe Biden reacted sharply to these words, saying that Republicans “have no idea what American foreign policy is.”
As the election approached, some Republicans were increasingly critical of the multi-billion-dollar military aid to Ukraine. For example, Marjorie Green has previously stated that if the Elephants win, the Kiev regime will get nothing more at all.
“Under the Republicans, Ukraine will not get another cent. Our country comes first. They do not care about our border or our people,” she said.
Elections for both chambers of the US Congress were held on 8 November, but the vote count stretched over several days and is still ongoing in some constituencies. According to preliminary results, the Republican Party managed to gain control of the House of Representatives by a slim margin, but the Democrats retained control of the Senate.
Despite the fact that the Republicans failed to gain full control of the Congress, a number of representatives of this political force continued to oppose the funding of the military needs of the Kiev regime.
“We must immediately stop payments to Ukraine and initiate a thorough audit of the $60 billion that Joe Biden and Congress have already sent there,” said Congressman Thomas Massie.
At the same time, even despite some change of rhetoric on the issue of allocating aid to Ukraine, this topic continues to worry the Republican Party. For example, Bloomberg reported, citing a source close to party leaders, that there is “a growing feeling among Republicans that Zelensky is demanding too much money and weapons”.
“Republican lawmakers also have concerns about corruption in Ukraine, especially given the admission that the US embassy in that country lacks the resources to track funds allocated to Kiev,” Bloomberg noted.
Domestic political manipulation
We shall remind you that the USA is Kiev’s main sponsor, providing it with colossal amounts of weapons and military equipment. On November 10, the Pentagon announced the allocation of another $400 million military aid package to Ukraine, which included missiles for HAWK air defense systems, Avenger air defense systems, Stinger MANPADs, missiles for HIMARS MLRS, 21 thousand 155 mm shells, 10 thousand 120 mm shells, 100 HMMWV vehicles, 400 grenade launchers and other equipment.
According to the US Department of Defense, since Joe Biden took office as President, the US has transferred over $19.3bn worth of military assistance to the Kiev regime, of which over $18.6bn has been transferred since the start of the Russian special operation on February 24.
According to Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Centre for Military and Political Studies at the Institute of the US and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Republicans in the run-up to the election were actively speculating in stopping the multi-billion dollar aid to Ukraine, as US citizens are increasingly concerned about the social and economic climate inside the country.
“The vast majority of the Republican electorate does not understand a situation where huge amounts of money are being spent on a country that most US citizens can’t even find on a map. At the same time, investments in American infrastructure, education and healthcare are not being made because supposedly no money is available. Voters make no secret of their displeasure about that. Hence the harsh statements during the election campaign. Even after the election, the party will have to manoeuvre and proceed from the fact that it has failed to gain a significant advantage and will have to reckon with the existence of a very powerful democratic opposition,” Batyuk said.
At the same time, he did not rule out that in the end, the Republicans may act in the style of Donald Trump, trying to shift responsibility to NATO and EU allies so that they increase the amount of aid to Kiev.
At the same time, Konstantin Blokhin of the Centre for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences believes that the Republican Party did not intend to reduce military support to Ukraine from the beginning.
“For the US, this is an important strategic asset – a geopolitical prize that Washington has been fighting for since the mid-1990s. A huge amount of money, effort and time has been invested. They can only give up support for Ukraine in exchange for something meaningful. At the same time, the Republican Party is heterogeneous – there are supporters of improving relations with Russia, and there are hawks who share the Democrats’ approach to the Ukrainian problem,” the expert said in a conversation with RT.
He doubts that, having gained control of the House of Representatives, the Republican Party will stop the amount of military support to the Kiev regime, but the issue will become a subject of political struggle between the two political forces.
“The Republicans want to prove that Joe Biden is an inefficient manager and a waste of budget funds. Therefore, in the run-up to the presidential election in 2024, they want to put sticks in the wheels of the incumbent Democrat president. By strengthening control over the allocation of aid to Kiev, they intend to show that Biden is spending the money ineffectively, and in this way create a basis for the victory of their party’s candidate”, Blokhin concluded.
Alexander Karpov, Alyona Medvedeva, RT