(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Following Congress approving a highly controversial $95 billion foreign aid package that includes $65 billion for Ukraine to continue fighting Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that even more aid would be needed in the future—though he didn’t say how much.
“Giving U.S. specific timeline of the war, well, it depends on how soon we get this aid,” Zelenskyy said in a Sunday interview with NBC News’s Meet the Press. “There are so many variables, so many factors.”
Now, Zelenskyy is signalling that Ukraine will need aid for at least another decade. In a statement he released Sunday, Ukraine’s leader said talks are already in process for more assistance.
“Our teams, Ukraine and the United States, are currently working on a bilateral security agreement, and we are already working on a specific text. Our goal is to make this agreement the strongest of all. We are discussing the specific foundations of our security and cooperation,” he said.
“We are also working on fixing specific levels of support for this year and for the next ten years, including armed support, financial, political, and joint arms production.”
Zelenskyy’s remarks add insult to injury for conservatives who had voiced opposition to funding Biden’s proxy war.
“They want you to pay for Ukraine forever,” remarked Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
They want you paying for Ukraine forever https://t.co/3KtFHt7iZG
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) April 29, 2024
However, there are signs that Ukraine won’t be able to fight a conventional war for another decade, even if it wanted to.
Reuters reported Monday that Russia now holds at least 18% of the country, and has been gaining ground since the failure of Kyiv’s 2023 counter-offensive.
The aid the U.S. is providing seems to be getting used up as quickly as the Pentagon can supply it. The New York Times reported this month that Ukraine has withdrawn its American Abrams tanks, which cost about $10 million apiece, from the front line after five of them were destroyed by relatively cheap Russian drones.
During its recent withdrawal from Avdiivka, a city in eastern Ukraine that was the focus of intense fighting for months, several tanks were lost to Russian attacks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
