US aid to Ukraine blocked by Senate Republicans

“Every week, every month that passes without new aid to Ukraine means fewer artillery shells, fewer air defense systems, fewer tools for Ukraine to defend itself against the Russian assault“, declared the American president on Tuesday. “This is exactly what Putin wants.” A few hours later, Joe Biden’s fears came true: Republican elected officials withdraw their support for the Senate agreement on aid to Ukraine and border control measures.

For months, Joe Biden had engaged with Senate leaders on a carefully negotiated plan to combine policies intended to reduce illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border with $60 billion in aid to Ukraine. The bill would have sent tens of billions of dollars more to Israel in humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza and Ukraine.

But after Republicans rejected the compromise, the president and Senate leaders are now stuck, with no clear way to advance aid to Ukraine through Congress. They came up against a wall of opposition elected officials, led by Donald Trump, who consider the border proposal insufficient and describe the financing of aid to Ukraine as waste.

Republican elected officials in Joe Biden’s crosshairs

Joe Biden blamed Donald Trump for the bill’s failure, his likely Republican opponent in the November presidential election. “In the last 24 hours, he has done nothing, I am told, other than contacting Republicans in the House and Senate, threatening them and trying to intimidate them into vote against this proposal“, Joe Biden said. “It looks like they’re giving in. Frankly, they owe it to the American people to be brave and do what they know is right.”

But Republicans have largely followed Donald Trump’s wishes to reject the bill for fear of seeing the American president take on the issue of border management, considered one of the greatest political vulnerabilities. Joe Biden has suggested he will make Republicans’ rejection of border policies a campaign theme. “I will take this issue to the country and the voters will know it“.

The consequences of the election campaign are reverberating thousands of kilometers away, in Ukraine. Due to lack of funds, the Pentagon is no longer sending arms shipments to Kyiv, just as the war – which is entering its third year – is reaching a critical point. Ukraine faces ammunition and personnel shortages, while Russia goes on the offensive and launches relentless attacks.

Russian missiles and drones on Ukraine

In Ukraine, Russia fired Iranian-made cruise and ballistic missiles and Shahed drones on Wednesday morning, authorities reported, killing at least three civilians and injuring ten others, including a pregnant woman. Ukraine’s armed forces said they intercepted 44 drones and missiles out of 64 launched during the morning attack.

The attacks targeted at least three major cities, including the capital Kyiv, where the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, was discussing military aid and financial support for Ukraine.

The attack also killed a man in Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine, where around 20 residential buildings and public infrastructure were damaged, the region’s governor, Vitalii Kim, said.

In Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, a 52-year-old woman was lightly injured in an S-300 missile attack. Missiles also hit the Lviv region in western Ukraine, where a fire broke out, officials said.