Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with a group of House GOP members in Kiev to ask for more military aid amid growing reluctance in the Republican party to continue providing weapons.
Indeed, some opponents of increased support for the war have suggested that the Ukrainian leader has “threatened” the US into providing more aid for the war.
Zelensky sat down with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and four other GOP members in the Ukrainian capital and said he would send a wish list of weapons he believes could help end war with Russia, including F-16 fighter jets and long-range ATACMS guided missiles.
McCaul said the Biden administration and the National Security Council are still at odds over “how quickly and what weapons” to give Ukraine.
“But I see increasing momentum towards the entry of artillery and aircraft,” McCall told reporters in Kiev. “And in any case, we can start training the pilots right now so they’re ready.”
The congressional delegation’s visit came a day after President Joe Biden pledged $500 million in new aid during a surprise visit to Kiev on Monday, although Biden said Ukraine did not need the F-16s “for now.” in a recent interview.
“Tanks are needed,” the president said. “He needs artillery. Air defense is needed, including another one [High Mobility Artillery Rocket System]. There are things he needs now that we’re sending him to put him in a position to be able to make a profit this spring and this summer through the fall.”
“There’s no need for an F-16 now,” Biden added. “There is no basis on which there is any logic, according to our military, now, to provide F-16s.”
Meanwhile, Americans are more divided about how much support the U.S. should give to Ukraine, recent polls show.
A new Fox News poll found that 50 percent think the U.S. should continue to support Ukraine until it wins the war against Russia, while 46 percent think the support should be time-limited.
Those numbers are down from last month, when a separate Fox News poll found 63 percent of respondents supported continued aid.
Zelensky warned the US during a press conference on Friday about the consequences of withdrawing military support, responding to a reporter’s question about the growing number of Americans who believe the US is providing too much military aid.
“I can tell them one thing: If they don’t change their minds, if they don’t understand us, if they don’t support Ukraine, they will lose NATO, they will lose the influence of the United States, they will lose leadership. position they enjoy in the world,” Zelensky said.
Some conservative commentators took to social media to criticize Zelensky for his warning, which they described as a “threat” to extract more aid.
Among those in the Republican party calling for the flow of aid to Ukraine to be reduced is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who called Biden’s recent trip to Kiev “insulting” and proof that he “chose Ukraine over America.”
Amid growing reluctance in the ranks of his party, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) issued a fiery rallying cry for the US and Western allies to renew support for Ukraine and against Russian “theft” in Helsinki on Friday.
“If Putin were given the green light to destabilize Europe, invading and killing at will, the long-term cost to the United States in both dollars and security risks would be astronomically higher than the tiny fraction of our GDP that we have invest in Ukraine. defense so far,” McConnell said in the statement.
By postal cables
