Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will arrive on Capitol Hill to a darker mood than when he swooped in last winter for a hero’s welcome, as the Russian invasion is grinding into a third year and U.S. funding hangs in balance.
Zelenskyy’s visit Tuesday comes as President Joe Biden’s request for an additional $110 billion U.S. aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other national security needs is at serious risk of collapse in Congress. Republicans are insisting on strict U.S.-Mexico border security changes that Democrats decry as draconian in exchange for the overseas aid.
“It is maddening,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a close ally of Biden, of the stalemate. “A very bad message to the world, to the Ukrainian people.”
Since WWII and even before allies, the EU, Japan, Australia etc have had confidence of the support of the US. That is essential as we work on our own geopolitical needs. To abandon a country in the middle of a fight will only decrease that confidence.
Sure I’m not talking about abandoning Ukraine or even criticizing the aid the US is sending here, I’m just saying I think it’s pretty naive of us in 2023 to pretend this has anything to do with global reputation.
They didn’t care in 04 going into Iraq, they didn’t care the other day voting against a cease fire. Reputation with key allies they might need, sure, but not globally.
We had allies fight with us in Afghanistan and Iraq. UN votes have been like that for a long time. They are allied with the US, not Israel…
Reputation with key allies rather than the world stage then. I don’t know why it has to be for anything else than quid pro quo with selected allies. That’s a different sentiment than global reputation on the world stage.