After so much gore, however, the end of this conflict still seems distant, and none in power appear confident that it’ll go their way.
A wild card in all this is the United States and the question of whether the world’s greatest military power can or will continue to provide direct security assistance to Ukraine.
The Biden administration, which pledged only months ago to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, is on the back foot, and money for a war on the other side of the world has run out.
Russia is waiting and eager for the opportunity to seize what it has been denied—at least, that’s what White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
“There’s significant risks to the Ukrainian armed forces if foreign aid and assistance dries up and we’re not able to continue to support them in their fight,” Mr. Kirby told The Epoch Times in December 2023.
“Ukraine is under significant threat right now from Russia, particularly from the air and drone and missile strikes on their energy infrastructure. And we know that the Russians intend to go back on the offense, particularly in the east.”
Ukraine has fought hard and won back about half the territory initially seized in Russia’s full-scale invasion. But Mr. Kirby said he fears that Ukraine’s “ability to continue to defend themselves and to rid their territory of Russian soldiers” will be compromised without supplemental U.S. funding.
“They have clawed back more than 50 percent of the territory that the Russians first took in those opening months,” he said.
“That’s not insignificant. Now, it’s due to a lot of their courage and bravery, but it’s also due an awful lot to the United States and to leadership around the world getting aid and assistance in there.”
A Partisan Issue
Whether the United States will continue that assistance remains to be seen.
In all, the United States has committed more than $44 billion in military aid to Ukraine since February 2022, with much of that in the form of presidential drawdown authorities, according to the Department of Defense.
The drawdown involves the United States transferring weapons directly to Ukraine from its own stockpiles and then spending the money to replenish its own stores.
The Pentagon has all but run out of money to replenish its stocks, so most military aid to Ukraine has, for the time being, halted.
In October 2023, President Joe Biden proposed a $105 billion supplemental spending package for Israel, Ukraine, and the U.S. southern border. Of that amount, some $44.4 billion would pass directly through the Pentagon.
The supplemental bill has stalled in Congress, where a partisan fight over its scope and priorities has erupted, throwing the future of the nation’s support for Ukraine up in the air.
The congressional gridlock mirrors U.S. popular support for the war, which began to crater amid Ukraine’s much-hyped but flagging counteroffensive last fall.
