Biden Seeks $21 Billion for Ukraine; Polish President Says Helping Ukraine Now won’t Cost American Lives

Despite growing opposition to America’s continued support for Ukraine as it battles russian invaders in this predestined existential war, President Biden on Thursday asked Congress to provide more than $13 billion in emergency defense aid to Ukraine and an additional $8 billion for humanitarian support through the end of the year, which constitutes another massive infusion of cash as the bloody russian invasion wears on for 18 months and Ukraine pushes a counteroffensive against the kremlin’s deeply entrenched forces.

A political abyss on the issue has steadily grown, with the Republican-led House facing enormous pressure to demonstrate support for the party’s leader, Donald Trump and other right wingers, who have opposed helping Ukraine in the war. And American support for the effort has been slowly softening.

White House budget director Shalanda Young, in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, urged swift action to follow through on the U.S. “commitment to the Ukrainian peoples’ defense of their homeland and to democracy around the world” as well as other needs. Additionally, the White House is seeking to put credence on the President’s commitment to will help Ukraine “as long as it takes” to oust Russia from its borders. However, privately, according to the Associated Press, administration officials have warned Ukrainian officials that there is a limit to the patience of a narrowly divided Congress — and American public — for the costs of a war with no clear end.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), said in a statement there was strong bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate.

“The latest request from the Biden administration shows America’s continued commitment to helping Americans here at home and our friends abroad,” he said. “We hope to join with our Republican colleagues this fall to avert an unnecessary government shutdown and fund this critical emergency supplemental request.”

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has championed of support for Ukraine, was more subdued.

“I look forward to carefully reviewing the Administration’s request to make sure it is necessary and appropriate,” McConnell said in a statement, “to keep America safe, secure our borders, support our allies, and help communities rebuild after disasters.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) released a statement urging Congress to swiftly pass critical funding for disaster relief programs while separately considering military aid for Ukraine.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby juxtaposed the dollar cost of supporting Ukraine against russian subjugation of the entire country, stating “For people who might be concerned the costs are getting too high, we’d ask them what the costs — not just in treasure but in blood, perhaps even American blood — could be if Putin subjugates Ukraine.”

The U.S. has approved four rounds of aid to Ukraine in response to russia’s invasion, totaling about $113 billion, with some of that money going toward replenishment of U.S. military equipment that was sent to the frontlines. Congress approved the latest round of aid in December, totaling roughly $45 billion for Ukraine and NATO allies. While the package was designed to last through the end of the fiscal year in September, much depends upon events on the ground.

“We remain confident that we’ll be able to continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” said Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.

On the other side of the world, among the former captive nations of russian subjugation, support for Ukraine is very strong. The countries of Eastern Europe and the Baltic States are adamant about the need for Ukraine’s victory and are providing it with a variety of arms and equipment. Furthermore, due to the mobilization of belarusian troops on its western border, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland have responded by stepping up their security forces deployment.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Polish President Andrzej Duda said American elected officials that are opposed to helping Ukraine defeat russian aggression fail to understand the genuine threat of renewed russian imperialism.

“It is very simple,” Duda told The Post’s Marc A. Thiessen. “Right now, Russian imperialism can be stopped cheaply, because American soldiers are not dying.” But if we don’t put a halt to Russian aggression now, “there will be a very high price to be paid.”

Duda reminded that Poles have experienced 600 years of Russian efforts to subjugate them and their neighbors. In the 18th century, Russia helped partition Poland, wiping it off the map for 123 years. In 1920, the Bolsheviks attacked “in the hope of spreading communism across the whole of Europe” but were stopped by Polish forces in the Battle of Warsaw. In 1939, the Soviets attacked again alongside Nazi Germany and “Stalin seized half of Poland, bringing it under Soviet occupation” — until Hitler turned on his Soviet allies. Then in 1945, the Red Army retook Poland and “pushed the German occupiers out only to replace them with their own occupation,” resulting in “an additional 44 years behind the Iron Curtain.”

Thiessen continued that now, Duda says, we are witnessing a “resurgence of Russian imperialism” — starting with Moscow’s 2008 invasion of Georgia, its 2014 attack on Ukraine, its full-scale invasion last year — and its “repeated threats directed at the Baltic states, Poland and all of Central Europe.” Vladimir Putin and his cronies “are dreaming of power of the tsars and the restoration of czarist territory.” We must stop russia’s advance in Ukraine now “so that it does not come to pass, as it did in World War I and World War II, that American soldiers have to shed their blood and to lose their lives in Europe to restore peace and liberty to the world.”

Despite the growing winds of opposition, Theissen wrote that Duda’s bold support for Ukraine is politically courageous. However, he didn’t state it, this bold support is echoed in the capitals of the Baltic States. Theissen stated “unfortunately, in the United States, most of the leading Republican presidential candidates are not showing similar courage. Is Duda worried what will happen to American support for Ukraine if Republicans win in 2024?

“No,” Duda told him, “I have no doubt that the United States understands perfectly the threat posed by russian imperialism.”

“And it is my profound belief that the United States also understands how important it is to make sure that democracy does not disappear from Central Europe. Everyone knows that where russia is, there is no democracy.”

Indeed, and the leaders and peoples of Eastern Europe know well that if Ukraine fails, if Ukraine is defeated by russia, then they too will fail and russia will occupy them again and restore the iron curtain. Is that the world that the Republicans and right wingers are supporting?