LOS ANGELES.–Ukraine’s 45-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky badgered the U.S. Congress for over $61 billion in U.S. government largess, largely to pay for his bankrupt Kiev government and the reckless war against the Kremlin. Zelensky sucked 81-year-old President Joe Biden into the worst blinder in U.S. history: Going to war against the Kremlin. Not only has Biden helped bankrupt Ukraine, he’s now created an unending dependency on U.S. taxpayer cash. Biden has no accounting how much U.S. cash goes for funding the proxy war against the Kremlin or paying for basic government services, like salaries, pensions, health care or fringe benefits. No one in Congress has any accounting for how U.S. cash gets spent once it goes into Ukraine’s coffers. Zelensky came to Congress at Biden’s request to help pressure elected officials into coughing up the $61 billion installment.
Zelensky told Congress, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), that Ukraine has succeeded in holding back Russia. That’s far different from his promise in the Spring to drive all Russian troops out of Ukraine by year’s end. When former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of State Gen. Mark Miley said in Dec. 2022 it was doubtful Zelensky could rid Ukraine of Russian troop. What happened to Zelensky’s vaunted counteroffensive with new U.S. and NATO weapons? Ukraine’s army burnt through all its munitions without capturing any significant sovereign land lost to the Russian Federation. Zelensky now tells Congress he’s holding his own with Russia. That changes his tune from the Spring when he promised his new missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers would drive Russia out. Now Zelensky says he needs F-16 fighter jets to complete the job.
Some members of Congress not concerned about Biden’s 2024 re-election have wised up to the litany of Zelensky’s failed promises. Zelensky said he succeeded in beating back Russian President Vladimir Putin attempt to conquer Kiev in the early days of the war. That’s what Zelensky and Biden touted as the great Ukrainian victory. But as the war progressed, Zelensky lost 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, nearly the entire Black Sea coast and most of Ukraine’s strategic ports. When Putin offered to go to the peace table with certain modest concessions, Zelensky opted for war, destroying Ukraine’s infrastructure and economy, killing thousands and driving millions into exile. Only recently, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, leader of the Feb. 22, 2014 Maiden Revolution, said eventually Zelensky would have to answer for all his bad decisions for Ukraine.
Zelensky told Congress a joint session of Congress Dec. 21, 2022 that Ukraine was not a charity case but an investment in European democracy. Elected officials were told that Ukraine’s war with Russia prevents a Kremlin takeover of Europe. That’s the same rubbish Zelesnky and Biden both use to justify the unending war with the Kremlin. Getting Biden to buy into war against the Kremlin, Zelensky ended decades of diplomacy, détente and arms control with the Soviet Union and Russian Federation. Expressing now concern about fears the Ukraine War could lead to WW III or nuclear War, Zelensky said WW III had already begun in Ukraine, trying to get Biden and the European Union[EU] to come to his defense. Nearly two years later the U.S. is a mortal enemy of the Kremlin, locked into an unending war that has destabilized peace on the European Continent.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told Zelensky that the “first condition” on Ukraine aid package was “our own national security,” Johnson said. Johnson referred to Republican demands that Biden address border security before cutting Ukraine a $61 billion dollar check. But Johnson also wanted “clarity” on the Ukraine War and a commitment to Congressional “oversight.” One both counts, the White House and Congress are in the dark, not knowing how Ukraine spends the over $100 billion already given to Kiev. Zelensky said today that with or without U.S. aid he would press his war with Russia until he returns every inch of sovereign territory and drives every Russian soldier out of Ukraine. Zelensky knows that if former President DonaldTrump wins in 2024, the U.S. funding would be cut, forcing Zelensky to go to the peace table to end the conflict.
irked a lot of conservative Senators begging for $61 billion in taxpayer cash when he has no new progress to report. Today’s message is that Ukraine holds its own against the Kremlin. Yet Zelensky railed against his chief Gen. Valery Zaluzny saying the war with the Kremlin was a stalemate. When Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko expressed concerns about Ukraine’s authoritarian rule, he was told to shut up by Zelensky’s wife Olena. Whatever jetsetter lifestyle Olena enjoys on U.S. government largess, she certainly doesn’t want Klitschko to say that Ukraine’s leaders will eventually have to answer to the people. Klitschko refers to the loss of Ukrainian soverign territory under Zelensky’s watch. But more importantly, Zelensky cancelled Ukrainian elections citing the fact that Zelensky cancelled elections because of the war and martial law.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
