(Washington) Joe Biden worked Tuesday to reassure United States allies about the sustainability of American support for Ukraine, which depends on the outcome of budget discussions that are chaotic to say the least.
The American president organized a conference call to “coordinate further aid to Ukraine,” the White House said in a short press release.
It was attended, according to the same source, by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council Charles Michel, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the first Japanese Minister Fumio Kishida, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.
Jens Stoltenberg spoke on the social network X (formerly Twitter) of a “good conversation” and added: “We promise to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre assured her on Monday that President Vladimir Putin was “mistaken” if he bet on Western weariness.
She added that the United States would “soon” announce new aid for the Ukrainian armed forces, which will be drawn from a budget already approved by Congress.
“Indispensable nation”
At the same time, Joe Biden maintains pressure on the national political scene.
The Republican Party, which dominates the House of Representatives, must “keep its word and ensure the vote for the aid necessary for Ukraine so that it can defend itself. We are the “indispensable nation”, let’s behave as such,” wrote the 80-year-old Democrat on the social network X (formerly Twitter), using terminology dear to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
The US Congress, currently made up of the Senate with a Democratic majority and the House of Representatives, has about a month and a half to adopt an annual budget, which should include a new and massive envelope to finance military and humanitarian support for the Ukraine.
So far, the White House estimates the increase needed to continue supporting the Ukrainian war effort at $24 billion.
Parliamentary turmoil
In reality, the American federal state should have had a new budget since 1er October, but very strong tensions within the Republican majority in the House of Representatives made any vote impossible.
The situation was further complicated Monday evening with the tabling by a hard-right elected official of a motion aimed at dismissing the conservative boss of the House, Kevin McCarthy.
The Biden administration has so far refused to say precisely when the funds already voted by Congress to help Ukraine will run out.
The United States is the main driver of the Western coalition that has been set up to confront Russia, and also – by far – the leading suppliers of aid to Ukraine, in the form of heavy and sophisticated weapons.
Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, recently estimated the amount of military assistance provided to Kyiv since Russia’s invasion at $47 billion, plus direct budget support from “1 to 1.5 billion dollars” passing through the World Bank, and around ten billion dollars in humanitarian aid.
The Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German institute that tracks aid to Ukraine, estimates that the United States has so far spent just under $75 billion on the country.
This makes it the world’s largest contributor in absolute value, and the 13the if we compare the sum to the Gross Domestic Product (0.3%).