‘Not good news:’ EU begs US to keep funding Ukraine after holding out on military aid

The European Union (EU) is pleading with the United States to keep providing aid to Ukraine after Congress decided to scrap funding in a stop-gap bill passed last week, according to CNBC.

A number of European leaders gathered in Spain this week to discuss how the EU could provide further support to Ukraine but warned that they wouldn’t be able to prop up Kyiv’s war effort without the help of the U.S., according to CNBC. Military aid commitments from the U.S. exceeds that of other European countries as the Biden administration has provided $46 billion in arms aid, alone, compared to the second highest supplier, Germany, which provided about $19 billion worth of arms, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

“I was in Kyiv some days ago just at the moment when we knew that the U.S. Congress had not included support to Ukraine,” Josep Borrell, a top diplomat representing EU members, told journalists on Thursday, CNBC reported. “That was certainly not expected, and it is certainly not good news, but I hope it is not going to be a definite position of the U.S.”

At the 3rd EPC in Granada, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas stated that Ukraine’s Western allies can’t show any war fatigue.

She says Putin is waiting for this, but that it won’t happen.

pic.twitter.com/vi7HVN0XSI

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 6, 2023

“Ukraine needs the support of the European Union, which is sure, they will have it and we will increase it. But also, the support of the U.S.,” Borrell said, according to CNBC. “Certainly Europe cannot replace the U.S.”

The United States has committed $100 billion in total economic and military aid since the beginning of Ukraine’s war, and the Biden administration hoped to see Congress approve an additional $24 billion in the annual appropriations bill. Congress decided against including the additional $24 billion in an eleventh-hour stop-gap bill that Biden signed on Saturday to prevent a government shutdown.

President Joe Biden rushed to assure foreign allies from the EU, Canada, and Japan during a phone call on Wednesday that his administration still supports Ukraine’s war, despite Congress’ decision to strip aid. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said EU countries are working to assemble a $52 billion aid package for Ukraine from 2024 to 2027 in lieu of a deal from the U.S., according to CNBC.

“It was very important that President Biden informed us at the beginning of this week what the support for Ukraine is concerned from the side of the United States,” von der Leyen said Thursday. “As far as I oversee the situation in the United States, I am very confident of support for Ukraine from the United States – what the United States is working on is the timing.”

Support for more taxpayer-funded aid to Ukraine has waned both at the congressional level and the public level. Only 41% of Americans believe the U.S. should continue providing weaponry to Ukraine, down from 65% in June, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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