On Thursday the White House announced a new military aid package for Ukraine, which is to include anti-air defense systems, something which President Zelensky has continued pressuring his Western backers for.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan underscored the new proposed package includes “important air defense contributions” – namely the Hawk air defense systems as well as US Avenger which utilizes Stinger missiles.
This sets up a post midterm test case after Republicans gained a narrow majority in the House. President Biden had addressed this head-on during his post-election press conference Wednesday after some like Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California threatened to pull the plug.
Biden was asked by a reporter whether Ukraine aid will continue flowing uninterrupted. Biden replied: “That is my expectation. And, by the way, we’ve not given Ukraine a blank check. There’s a lot of things that Ukraine wants [that] we didn’t do.”
Biden in those remarks attempted to deflect what’s in reality growing bipartisan criticism, given the letter urging greater diplomacy with Russia that was submitted to the White House by Progressives two weeks ago (later retracted under pressure):
Biden said he decided to deny U.S. aircraft to guarantee Ukraine’s skies because, “We’re not going to get into a third world war, taking on Russian aircraft and directly engage.” In a reference to Ukraine’s request for the longer-range Army Tactical Missile System, made by Lockheed Martin, Biden said he’s denied the Ukrainians such missiles, “because I’m not looking for them to start bombing Russian territory.”
But the fact that he even has to address the possibility of getting into a third world war – or also nuclear “Armageddon” as he previously said – is cause enough for serious concern.
Biden suggested throughout the comments that most Republicans agree with him. Indeed given that this week’s elections weren’t the Republican sweep that many expected suggests that his Ukraine aid packages will continue flowing…
Biden: “We have not given Ukraine a blank check” pic.twitter.com/qz3BbQpNGN
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 9, 2022
“We want to make sure that there’s a relationship 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 Putin, within Ukraine. And there’s so much at stake,” Biden said further.
“So, I would be surprised if Leader McCarthy even has a majority of his Republican colleagues who say they’re not going to fund the legitimate defensive needs of Ukraine,” Biden added.
Meanwhile, Pentagon leadership has said it sees signs of Ukrainian successes on the battlefield. On Wednesday Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he believes “well over” 100,000 Russian soldiers have perished after nearly nine months of war. This ranks among the highest estimates given thus far by any official and is unlikely.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 11/10/2022 – 17:20
