There has been no new military aid for Kiev from the USA for weeks due to a domestic political blockade. Europe cannot absorb this. Chancellor Scholz has now met US President Biden – and both are now making an appeal together.
After his conversation with US President Joe Biden, Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed confidence that US military aid to Ukraine can be maintained.
If it is not possible to reach a corresponding decision in the US Congress, the ability of the Ukrainian armed forces to defend their own country will be threatened, Scholz warned after the conversation in the Oval Office of the White House, which lasted about an hour and 45 minutes .
“That’s why we are both very convinced that this has to happen now, but also confident that the American Congress will ultimately make such a decision.” That would also be the right message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his hopes of a reduction in Western military aid to Ukraine are in vain.
Scholz and Biden in the initiative
The USA and Germany are by far Ukraine’s most important arms suppliers. Scholz estimates the value of the military equipment delivered and promised by Germany at more than 30 billion euros. The USA states the extent of its military aid at 44 billion US dollars (around 41 billion euros).
Both Scholz and Biden are currently struggling in different ways to maintain aid. At the beginning of the year, the Chancellor launched an initiative to encourage EU partners – especially economically strong ones such as France, Spain and Italy – to provide more support for the Ukrainian armed forces. The success so far has been moderate.
Ukraine vote in the wake of the election campaign
Biden, in turn, has been trying for months to get billions in new aid for Kiev through Congress. Former President Donald Trump’s Republicans are blocking this, but have recently signaled some willingness to move, at least in the Senate.
But a solution is still far from being in sight. On Thursday, a new legislative package that, among other things, provides $60 billion (56 billion euros) for Ukraine cleared its first formal hurdle in the Senate. Negotiations are still ongoing and a final vote in the Senate is pending. Whether the package will pass there – and above all whether it has a chance in the other chamber of parliament, the House of Representatives – is still completely open.
Given the months-long domestic political blockade in the USA, even minimal movements are currently seen as progress. At his meeting with the Chancellor at the White House, Biden said a failure by Congress to release the aid would amount to “criminal negligence.”
Biden also praised Germany’s contribution to the international aid coalition. Addressing Scholz, he said: “You have done something that no one thought could succeed: you have doubled German military aid to Ukraine this year.” The USA now has to do its part.