The White House is steeling itself for new challenges posed by a winter of military operation in Ukraine and an incoming Republican House majority promising to curb funding to Kyiv,
Politico reports.
Though Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russia’s military actions continue to exceed expectations, President Joe Biden has been warily watching developments on both sides of the Atlantic. Ukraine remains standing as fighting enters its tenth month, but new tests for the Biden administration, at home and abroad, are rising just as the temperatures drop in Eastern Europe.
White House aides have privately admitted for months that, at a certain point, congressional funding for the conflict would slow as it drifts from the headlines. But there is a push by the administration to make sure Ukraine has the assistance it needs to make it through the winter, despite Russian attacks on the electrical grid that have plunged much of the nation into the darkness and left millions of war-weary residents without heat or light.
Most immediately, the administration is leaning on Congress now to pass more Ukraine funding in the omnibus spending bill currently being negotiated.
The White House is relying on some unlikely allies: moderate Republicans in the House who have voiced support for the funding, as well as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has steadfastly backed the assistance to Kyiv. Administration and Pentagon leaders have quietly huddled with GOP members in recent weeks to keep that momentum going despite pressure from some in their far-right faction.
“We want to make sure that they’re able to defend themselves and take on what is purely the ugliest aggression that’s occurred since World War II on a massive scale, on the part of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, within Ukraine,” Biden said recently. “And there’s so much at stake.”
Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is trying to assemble enough support to become speaker, said in October that Ukraine would no longer receive a “blank check” from Washington. And while he has since backtracked, McCarthy may find himself beholden to newly empowered lawmakers such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who pledged that “under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine.”
Money won’t be the only thing the administration sends to Ukraine.
The Pentagon has ramped up preparations to arm Kyiv, finalizing plans to send the Patriot missile defense system, which should greatly enhance Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against attacks from the skies, including missiles and armed drones.
Currently, there are no plans for Biden to visit Kyiv, mainly because of security risks, according to several White House officials. But Biden spoke last week to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who urged his American counterpart to continue the flow of air defense weapons.
And there is growing concern in both nations’ capitals as to what the next phase of the war will hold.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive, so successful when launched in late summer, has stalled along both the southern and eastern fronts, allowing Russian forces to dig in. The cold winter has slowed the fighting — which has devolved into World War I-style trench warfare — but Ukrainian military officials this week warned that recent Russian troop and tank movements could telegraph another major assault in the weeks ahead, perhaps even toward Kyiv.
