The Senate has approved the aid package to Kiev – now the bill is left for Joe Biden to sign, and the aid can be sent to Ukraine. The only question is, will it help it at this point? According to Politico, the “unpredictability” of Western deliveries has turned out to mean that support for Ukraine is rare, little and too late. And given the looming elections in the US and Europe, the situation could get many times worse.
On Tuesday, the US Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill to provide military aid to Ukraine. But according to Politico, the main questions are how quickly this aid will reach Ukraine, will it be enough to have any impact on the situation, and is it too late?
According to analysts, even a quick delivery of artillery shells, which are much needed by Ukrainian soldiers, would only help to narrow the gap a bit. “These supplies will still not be enough to help Ukraine strengthen its defences ahead of a likely Russian offensive. And they certainly won’t be enough for Ukraine to go on the offensive itself,” Politico concludes.
The unpredictability of supplies has been a headache for Ukraine from the very beginning, as military aid has been hostage to the internal politics of Kiev’s allies and their inconsistency regarding the goals of the war. However, as the publication emphasises, “the situation with the unpredictability of supplies is unlikely to get better because of the upcoming elections in both the US and Europe – moreover, it could get much worse”.
Kiev hopes that even if Donald Trump comes to power in the US, Europe has time to prepare and will be able to make up the shortfall in Ukrainian needs next year, the publication notes. “The only question is, will she do it?”
