Republicans and Democrats alike “are beginning to doubt” Washington’s support for Kyiv, Victoria Nuland said
Some U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed doubts about providing various types of aid to Ukraine amid its conflict with Russia, U.S. Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said Monday.
Speaking at a panel discussion hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce, Nuland was asked to comment on Washington’s political divisions regarding support for Kiev.
The State Department official tried to downplay the friction over the issue, noting that the US “has contributed more than $30 billion to the security, economic prosperity and humanitarian situation in Ukraine.”
“It can’t be done without the overwhelming support of both parties in Congress,” he said. she added.
However, she admitted that “On the fringes of both sides, people are starting to have doubts, but fundamentally, if you look at how this issue is being polled across the country, Americans hate a bully.”
According to Nuland, US citizens “Understand that if we don’t stop this war here, if we don’t restore international law and respect for the UN Charter, this thing [will] just keep going.”
Nuland’s comments come after a poll by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research earlier this month found that 48% of Americans support the US in supplying arms to Ukraine, while 29% opposed and 22% opposed it. gate remained. This is a 12% drop from a similar poll in May 2022, when 60% of US adults said they support US military support for Ukraine.
In recent months, some Republicans have repeatedly called for an audit of US aid to Ukraine, narrowly rejecting a relevant resolution in early December in the House of Representatives. In early February, however, a dozen Republicans in Congress introduced the “Ukraine Fatigue Resolution” calling on Washington to cut military and financial aid to Kiev.
Between January 2022 and January 2023, the U.S. government pledged some $77.5 billion to Ukraine, a significant portion of which is military aid, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
Russia has repeatedly warned the West not to arm Ukraine, saying this would only prolong the conflict. On Tuesday, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that by supporting Ukraine, NATO had become fully involved in hostilities between Moscow and Kiev, adding that the US-led military bloc “no longer acts as our conditional adversary, but as our enemy.”
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