CNN reports White House officials privately admit to 'problems' funding Ukraine

RT
Thu, 05 Oct 2023 18:31 UTC

© Evan Vucci/Associated Press

US President Joe Biden received his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on September 1, 2021.

The Biden administration is reportedly looking for ways to keep money flowing to Ukraine even if Congress does not support further aid

Senior White House officials have privately admitted that only weeks remain before the halt in US funding to Ukraine will result in serious battlefield issues for Kiev's forces, CNN reported on Wednesday, citing sources within the administration of President Joe Biden.

The report comes after the US Congress last week omitted any funds for Ukraine in a last-minute 45-day stopgap government spending bill following pushback from Republican senators. Legislators now have until November 17 to approve a long-term funding bill, and a growing portion of the GOP is adamant about not sending any more US taxpayer dollars to Kiev.

Top US officials have continued to call on Congress to urgently approve additional funds for Ukraine's war effort and have repeatedly warned about the dangers of halting financial support for Kiev.

While publicly officials say they are convinced the majority of Americans support sustained assistance for Ukraine, CNN reported that privately they are concerned that Congress may ultimately fail to include any additional funding for Kiev in the government's spending budget.

Comment: Clearly the White House has been reading the wrong polls, and in fact, ignoring them for quite a while

Additionally, after Republican Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his position of House speaker this week, the need to vote for his successor could mean that "prospects for a new relief package in the near future seem slim," CNN wrote.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, President Joe Biden stated that he was planning to address legislators in the near future and wanted to stress the imperative of continued support for Ukraine. "I'm going to make the argument that it's overwhelmingly in the interests of the United States of America that Ukraine succeed," he said.

Biden also suggested that his administration is currently searching for "workaround methods" of providing Ukraine assistance should Congress fail to include such financing in the government's budget. "There is another means by which we may be able to find funding," the president said, without elaborating on what these alternative avenues may be.

Moscow, meanwhile, has suggested that the US Congress's refusal to send money to Ukraine was only a "temporary phenomenon." Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that despite the recent hiccup, Washington will inevitably continue to be directly involved in the Ukraine conflict.

Nevertheless, he reiterated the Kremlin's position that eventually many countries, including the US, will grow tired of the "completely absurd sponsorship of the Kiev regime."

Comment:

Meanwhile:

Ukrainians 'freaking out' over US funding 'disaster' - Politico

MPs in Kiev complained to the outlet about becoming "hostages" of domestic politics in Washington

While Ukraine has publicly distanced itself from the congressional chaos in the US, officials privately admit that there is a lot of anxiety over future deliveries of weapons and financing by its key Western sponsor, Politico reported on Wednesday.

"We are freaking out. For us it is a disaster," MP Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze was quoted by the outlet as saying.

Klympush-Tsintsadze served as vice prime minister under President Pyotr Poroshenko and remains a senior figure in his party.

An unnamed MP interviewed by the outlet called the situation in the US "a setup" for Ukraine that people in Kiev were "watching for now."

They were referring to last week's failure of the US Congress to approve additional Ukraine spending in the 45-day stopgap funding bill and the subsequent ouster of Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House, a first in American history.

Representative Matt Gaetz, who spearheaded the motion to oust the speaker, accused McCarthy of striking a secret deal with the administration of President Joe Biden to keep Ukraine aid flowing. Gaetz is a vocal advocate for cutting Kiev loose, whereas the White House has repeatedly urged Congress to ensure continued funding of the Ukrainian government.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Kiev has enough money to last through October, but beyond that is far less certain should foreign aid dry up. The Western money goes not only to the military but covers civilian expenses as well.

After the stopgap budget was passed in the US Congress, Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak lamented that his country had become "hostages of their [Americans'] internal politics" and shared his ideas on how to ensure resumption of the cash flow. "The biggest (public) complaint about us is corruption," he said in a social media post on Sunday. "We have to go through these 45 days without a major corruption scandal."

Dude, y'all became hostages the moment you accepted Nuland's Maiden cookies.

The MP claimed that the Ukrainians were "told exactly that" during "the visit," apparently referring to the US delegation headed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who came to Kiev in early September. He urged President Vladimir Zelensky to deal with people "who became the symbols of corruption in Ukraine and of scamming international partners" regardless of how useful his office finds them.

Zhelezniak didn't call out the purported grifters by name, but suggested they should "f**k off," or the aid will be gone for good.