While Western support for Ukraine is showing signs of being shaken in many places, Ukrainian authorities have expressed hope that a solution will be found.
On the 2nd, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in response to the U.S. Congress’s recent move to pass the interim budget bill while deleting the item supporting Ukraine, “We will be able to find the necessary solution” to continue providing military assistance to Ukraine, he said in the capital city of Kyiv. (Russian name Kiev) said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleva (second from left) and Josep Borrell (far left), High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security, pay tribute in the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv (Russian name: Kiev) on the 1st to mark the Day of Defender of Ukraine. Offering flowers at the facility.
On this day, Minister Kuleba, who stood in front of reporters along with the European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Josep Borrell, explained that he had had in-depth conversations with members of both Democratic and Republican parties in the United States.
At the same time, he said that it was a “(temporary) accident” that the U.S. Congress passed a temporary budget bill excluding financial support for Ukraine to avoid a government “shutdown” on the 30th of last month, and that it was not a systematic change in support.
Representative Borrell also emphasized that he believes a solution can be found to continue U.S. support for Daewoo Ukraine.
Glad to welcome EU foreign ministers at the historic meeting in Ukraine. For the first time in history, outside current EU borders. But also within its future borders. I am grateful to the European Union and personally to @JosepBorrellF for the unwavering EU support for Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/xPjPVExp3S
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) October 2, 2023
Representative Borrell presided over the EU Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Kyiv on the 2nd and discussed support measures for Ukraine.
This is the first time that a meeting of EU foreign ministers has been held in a country other than an EU member state.
■ Support for Ukraine is omitted from the U.S. interim budget.
The U.S. Congress avoided a shutdown, which means a temporary suspension of government work, by prioritizing a 45-day temporary budget on the 30th of last month.
See also: US President Biden signs interim budget… Averting the risk of a government shutdown
However, the provisional budget did not reflect support for Ukraine.
This result reflects the position of the opposition Republican Party, which holds a majority of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, to prevent a shutdown.
In the United States, which took the lead in uniting against Russia, differences of opinion on support for Ukraine are being exposed ahead of next year’s presidential election.
In particular, Republican hardliners such as Rep. Matt Gates and Marjorie Taylor Greene are voicing opposition to support, saying that Ukraine is not a core interest of the United States.
They pointed out the financial situation of the United States, which is showing increasing debt, and claimed, “It’s like borrowing money from China and giving it to Ukraine.”
115 BILLION DOLLARS to Ukraine?? Money we don%27t even have- we are borrowing it from CHINA!! WAKE UP YOU LIBERAL IDIOTS!!! You are destroying America. 🤬NOT ONE MORE DIME. pic.twitter.com/mv9tdHcv3s
— 🗽🇺🇸 Tallulah (@MtnMama406) September 30, 2023
When the interim budget bill that reflected the hardliners’ positions in the Republican Party was eventually passed, concerns were raised in Ukraine that additional support from the United States might be reduced or cut off altogether.
“This is shocking,” Oleksiy Goncharenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, told the media, adding, “The exclusion of aid to Ukraine is a warning signal to us.”
He also expressed concern that “without U.S. support, Ukraine has virtually no chance to defend itself.”
■ Biden “We cannot allow support to be suspended under any circumstances.”
However, the Joe Biden administration and the European Union (EU) still maintain the position that Ukraine must be supported.
On the 30th of last month, US President Biden signed a temporary budget bill that omitted the Ukraine aid budget, but urged the Republican Party to revive the aid budget.
U.S. President Joe Biden is signing the interim budget bill (HR 5860) on the 30th of last month.
President Biden emphasized in a statement that day, “We cannot allow U.S. support to Ukraine to be interrupted under any circumstances.”
US 🇺🇸 President Biden has released a statement saying: “We cannot under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine 🇺🇦 to be interrupted.”This comes after Biden signed a short-term spending bill to avert a government shutdown for 45 days that didn’t include Ukraine aid pic.twitter.com/nP1uHyvC4D
— Ukraine Battle Map (@ukraine_map) October 1, 2023
Also the next day, on the 1st, while speaking about the budget in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, he said that Ukraine could continue to “count on” support from the United States.
Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security, also argues that the United States should reconsider its omission of its support budget for Ukraine.
■ US think tank estimates $76.8 billion
According to recent data from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the amount of various projects and in-kind support provided by the United States to Ukraine since January 24 last year, when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was imminent, until the end of July this year amounted to $76.8 billion.
Many Western analysts say the military aid provided by the United States and other allies has played a pivotal role in Ukraine’s defense and counteroffensive against Russia. See the full scope: https://t.co/cN0fruiWF8
— Council on Foreign Relations (@CFR_org) September 26, 2023
Among these, the total military support, including direct support for weapons and military equipment ($23.5 billion), loans for weapons purchases ($4.7 billion), and security support ($18.3 billion), reached $46.6 billion.
U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken visited Kioux early last month and announced a policy of additional support worth $1 billion.
See also: US supports Ukraine with cluster bombs followed by depleted uranium bombs… International controversy over the harmfulness of ‘dirty bombs’
President Biden has requested $24 billion in additional support funds from Congress.
■ Massive protests in Poland
Meanwhile, there are signs that support for Daewoo Ukraine will be reduced in Poland, which has claimed to be a strong ally of Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
Poland has served as a hub for Western weapons, military supplies, and humanitarian aid entering Ukraine, but public opinion has recently been changing.
Eventually, large-scale protests broke out against the ruling party, which has been providing unconditional support to Ukraine.
Poland’s main opposition party, the Civic Platform (PO), ahead of the general election on the 15th, held an anti-government rally in Warsaw, the capital, on the 1st.
Warsaw city authorities, where the opposition party holds a majority, claimed that 1 million people gathered for this rally, the largest ever.
Local online news channel onet.pl estimated the attendance at the rally at 600,000 to 800,000 people.
Donald Tusk’s surroundings after the great march: Kaczyński is running out of fuel https://t.co/cqvtxQ1E4B
— Onet News (@OnetWiadomosci) October 2, 2023
Similar rallies were held in other cities, including Łódź, Walłžich, and Krakow.
Regarding this, the New York Times commented that it was the largest rally since the 1980s against the communist regime in Poland.
PO is a center-right party and has been in favor of supporting war materials since the start of the war in Ukraine. However, there is a difference in the amount of support, saying that the current ruling party, the Law and Justice Party (PiS), has provided excessive support to Ukraine.
Regarding the spread of large-scale anti-government rallies, former Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who leads PO, said, “A big change is coming. This rally is a sign of Poland’s rebirth.”
At the same time, he stated that a firm stance must be taken against support for Ukraine that does not serve Poland’s interests.
■ Reversed after declaring ‘suspension of arms support’
Poland is also engaged in a conflict over agricultural products from Ukraine.
Previously, Ukraine’s trade authorities warned of filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and taking additional measures against Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, who announced that they would continue to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat and corn to protect their own farmers.
In response to this, former Prime Minister Tusk, who leads the PO, emphasized that “our farmers were not protected due to the influx of agricultural products from Ukraine,” and that “there must be measures to protect Poland’s interests.”
Recent opinion polls show the ruling party, PiS, with a 38% approval rating, slightly ahead of the PO with 31%.
However, as the war prolongs, the gap in approval ratings tends to narrow. It’s narrowing down quickly, especially since last summer.
Then, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, a PiS member, recently declared that he would block the inflow of agricultural products from Ukraine and stop providing weapons.
BREAKING REPORT: Poland%27s PM says the country is NO LONGER arming Ukraine..Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was asked Wednesday if his country would continue to back Kyiv, despite this dispute. -France 24″We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we… pic.twitter.com/PUDfmkuGiv
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) September 21, 2023
As the international community’s repercussions regarding this grew, Polish President Andrzej Duda came forward and reversed the Prime Minister’s announcement within a day.
However, speculation continues that the position of some European countries, including Poland, which has claimed to be the strongest supporter of Ukraine ahead of the election, may be shaken.
■ Slovakia’s pro-Russian opposition party wins, “We will begin the peace agreement.”
On the 1st, former Slovak Prime Minister Robert Pizzo (center) holds a press conference about the results of the general election in the capital Bratislava.
In Slovakia, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the pro-Russian and anti-American opposition Social Democratic Party (SD, Smer) won about 23% of the votes in the general election held on the 30th of last month, and the pro-Western, liberal party won 17% of the votes. defeated progressive Slovakia (PS).
Former Prime Minister Robert Pizzo, who led SD’s victory, continues to criticize support for Daewoo Ukraine, saying, “The Slovak people have bigger problems than Ukraine.”
In particular, it has declared that “we will no longer send ammunition (to Ukraine).”
Former Prime Minister Pitso said at a press conference in the capital Bratislava on the 1st, “The Ukraine problem is a tragedy for everyone,” and added, “If Smer forms a government, we will do everything so that discussions on a peace agreement (between Russia and Ukraine) can begin as soon as possible.” “I will do it,” he said.
This is Oh Jong-su of VOA News.
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2023-10-02 14:40:00
