THE UNITED STATES TO THE RESCUE OF UKRAINE

WITH 61 BILLION AID

It had been blocked in the American Congress for several months, the aid amounting to 61 billion dollars, or 57 billion euros.

After the favorable vote of the House of Representatives, with a Republican majority, the American President, Joe Biden, can count on the support of the Senate, where the Democrats are in the majority, to finally release the financial aid of 60.8 billion dollars (56 billion euros) promised to Ukraine.

"Churchill or Chamberlain"

The tenant of the White House owes this outcome to the change of heart of the Republican speaker of Congress, Mike Johnson. This Trumpist conservative, Christian evangelist, considered that the war in Ukraine could not give rise to a game of political calculations. Also, without fear of facing the anger of a part of his camp which had cost his predecessor the place, Mike Johnson had invited the members of the House to "vote in conscience", according to their wishes. The result was unequivocal. The aid plan was validated by 311 votes to 112.

“To put it bluntly: I would rather send ammunition to Ukraine than send our boys to fight,” he pleaded. Before mentioning, not without a certain emotion, the case of his son, who is preparing to enter the Naval Academy. “This is a life-size test for me, as for so many American families,” he said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky quickly congratulated the decision, assuring that it “will prevent the war from spreading” and “save thousands and thousands of lives.” The text will arrive very quickly in the Senate, where it should be adopted without problem.

Massive help...

This massive aid that the Ukrainians were impatiently awaiting mainly includes military and economic assistance. Part of this aid actually corresponds to purchases on American soil from American manufacturers for the American army, which will be able to replenish its stocks and get rid of older equipment.

In this aid plan: $27 billion will finance the purchase of weapons for the Ukrainian army and the training of troops. 23 billion will be used to buy back weapons and ammunition from American stocks sent to kyiv. The list of equipment is not yet known.

Around 10 billion will be dedicated to economic assistance for the energy and infrastructure sectors. This non-military aid is sent in the form of a loan.

This vote by the US Congress also authorizes President Joe Biden to confiscate and sell Russian assets so that they can finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.

...But late

This aid comes at the right time for Ukrainians lacking ammunition. The CIA director said that without help, Ukraine "could lose on the battlefield by the end of 2024." The Russians are indeed encroaching on ground, benefiting from an unbalanced balance of power in terms of ammunition. Putin's army fires five times more shells than kyiv's.

It is not certain, however, that this will be enough to reverse the course of a conflict in which Russia has taken the upper hand. The Russians are also advancing in certain areas of the front line.

A Pyrrhic victory for Joe Biden which is also part of an awareness among some conservatives of a de facto alliance bringing together Russia, China and Iran, a new “axis of evil” which is raging in Ukraine but also in the Middle East and as far as Asia.