Ukraine is currently the main and largest recipient of US military aid. Even without the latest $20 billion package being considered by the Senate, financial injections into the country in three months have exceeded the amount of a year’s funding for the armed forces of partner countries, including Israel and Jordan, The Washington Post writes on May 17.
The newspaper notes that last week, US President Joe Biden called on Congress to approve this proposal to provide financial assistance, saying that money for arms supplies to Ukraine would run out in 10 days. The Senate decided to move the bill forward for a final vote on Wednesday, May 18. According to experts, the increase in US military spending will only prolong the conflict in Ukraine and Donbass.
According to Mark Kansian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the United States provided assistance every week or two, but “then the realization came: this could go on for quite a long time.” The budget approved by the House of Representatives is calculated until the end of the fiscal year, which allows us to predict the duration of the conflict in Ukraine “at least another four months,” Kansian said.
“Each year, the United States spends billions of dollars to finance the military forces of partner countries, including Israel and Jordan. But in less than three months, commitments to Ukraine surpassed those figures. If the Senate passes the package, this commitment will eclipse annual U.S. military aid to its closest partners.
Analysts see military aid from the West as vital to Ukraine’s success in the fight, so supplies to both the US and other countries need to continue.
“This aid makes up more than half of the Ukrainian military budget last year. By some estimates, an increase of nearly $20 billion would bring the U.S. contribution to almost a third of Russia’s annual military budget, although some analysts estimate that Moscow is spending up to $200 billion on its military, much more than the official figure. — emphasized The Washington Post
On May 16, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green criticized the US $40 billion military aid project for Ukraine.
On March 5, the Russian Foreign Ministry called on the European Union and NATO to stop pumping Ukraine with weapons. According to the official representative of the department, Maria Zakharova, in the first month and a half of 2022, almost 50 military transport aircraft from different countries landed in the country.
Western countries began to actively arm Ukraine against the backdrop of a special operation carried out by Russia to protect the Donbass, which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24. As Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified, the special operation has two goals – the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. According to him, both of these aspects pose a threat to the Russian state and people.
In mid-February, due to the aggravation of the situation in the Donbass as a result of increased shelling by the Ukrainian military, the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics announced the evacuation of the civilian population to the Russian Federation and asked for recognition of independence. On February 21, Putin signed a corresponding decree.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
