Bringing 45-tyear-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky back to Washington to pressure Congress to approve $61 billion on more war funding, President Joe Biden, 81, hopes browbeat reluctant Republicans into coughing up the cash. Biden doesn’t take seriously the mess at the Mexican border where unprecedented numbers of illegal immigrants flood the border both legally and illegally. Republicans want Biden, before releasing Ukraine funding, to agree to end the asylum program allowing anyone entering from the Southern border to claim they’re victims of political persecution, qualifying them for U.S. asylum. Whatever Republicans want, Biden cleverly expects Zelensky’s presence on Capitol Hill to push reluctant senators to give Ukraine the $61 billion, whether it’s used to pay government salaries and pensions or the ongoing war with the Kremlin.
Some senators like J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), find it sickening that Biden would use Zelensky to sell his Ukraine War policy, supplying more cash to continue the fight with the Russian Federation. Not one member of Congress has said the Ukraine War destroys decades of hard-fought diplomacy, détente and arms control with Russia, only commenting about Ukraine’s wish to drive Russian troops off Ukrainian soil. It was Zelensky who decided after the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion, to go to war against the Kremlin. Anti-Russian members of Congress had no problem with Biden funding a proxy war using Ukrainian troops to battle the Kremlin. No one in Congress has lamented the fact that Biden turned a cooperative U.S. adversary into a mortal enemy now at war with the Kremlin. U.S. State Department can no longer rely on Moscow for any global cooperation.
Zelensky returns to Washington to pressure Congress to cough up the $61 billion in new Ukraine spending, knowing that the long-awaited counteroffensive with sophisticated U.S. and NATO weapons hasn’t changed the battlefield with both sides in a virtual stalemate. Zelensky resented when his chief Gen. Valery Zuluzhny saying the war was a “stalemate.” Zelensky fears using the world “stalemate” that he’ll lose U.S. and NATO funding. Zelensky cleverly morphs his story about the necessity of the Ukraine War, now saying that Kiev holds its own against Russia. Before, Zelensky promosed to drive Russian troops out of Ukrain by year’s end. When former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Miley said that there was no military solution in Ukraine, Zelensky resented his honesty. Zelensky resents anyone that says anything that could cut his U.S. funding.
Bringing Zelensky to Congress is Biden’s way of pressuring Congress to pony up the cash. Zelensky presents as such a hapless, pathetic figure, always begging for cash. But the real problem with the Ukraine War stems from Biden’s colossal miscalculation that he and the Ukrainian military would vanquish the Russian Federation. Biden and Zelensky have sold Congress a bill of goods on Ukraine, promising degrade the Russian military and drive all Russian troops from Ukraine. Russia had troop in Crimea and Donbas before the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion and will no doubt have troops in the region after the war is settled at the peace table. Zelensky’s decision to go to war against the Kremlin bankrupted Ukraine. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko tells the truth when he says Zelensky must answer for all the mistakes made in declaring war against the Kremlin.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Biden biggest Ukraine War backer in Congress, continues his feeble arguments to giving Zelensky the $61 billion. “The one person happy right now about the gridlock in Congress is Putin,” Schumer said, drumming up the same anti-Russian rhetoric that drives the Ukraine War. “Putin is delighted. Trump’s border policies are sabotaging aid to Ukraine,” Schumer said. How cynical of Schumer to brow beat his Senate colleagues into back a failed war. Whether Putin’s “delighted” or not, Congress must ask whether the Ukraine War is a colossal waste of U.S. resources? Biden and Zelensky have no real plan to defeat the Russian Federation, only to spend more U.S. tax money indefinitely on a losing proposition. Shame of Schumer for pressuring his colleagues to waste another $61 billion on a failed proxy war with the Kremlin.
Whether or not Biden acquiesces to Republicans on new border policies, the Ukraine War must be ended before it drags Europe and the world into WW II, possibly nuclear war. Russian President Validmir Putin isn’t going to roll over for the Ukraine, U.S. or NATO. Keeping the war going only wastes more U.S. resources and wrecks an important relationship with the Kremlin. Whatever Ukraine’s problems with Russia, it’s not up to the U.S. to fight Ukraine’s battles. Zelensky has made horrific decisions for Ukrainei n going to war against the Kremlin. Zelensky can’t afford the war without U.S. government largess. Trump said he would end the War on Day One of his new presidency. Zelensky said Trump could not stop the war. But without U.S. finding, how long could Ukraine hold out on a peace settlement, even if it involved compromises with Moscow?
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.
