Baltic and Nordic lawmakers express concern in the U.S. about delayed aid to Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
Nordic and Baltic lawmakers expressed concern over delays in providing military assistance to Ukraine and called for a clearer American strategy to counter Russian aggression.
Senior Nordic and Baltic parliamentarians who visited Washington on Thursday, February 8, expressed concern over what they called "a lack of urgency and a clear strategy on the part of the United States" to help Ukraine. This was reported by Euractiv, UNN.
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According to lawmakers, Russian President Vladimir Putin will seize even more European territories if he wins in Ukraine, raising the risk of conflict with the US-led NATO alliance. This will lead to huge human and economic losses, Euractiv writes.
"Guys, wake up," said Žygimantis Pavilionis, chairman of the Lithuanian parliament's foreign affairs committee, addressing Democrats and Republicans. "Are you ready to defeat enemy number one, who is behaving like a modern-day Hitler?"
According to the newspaper, the "gloomy" assessment of Washington's handling of the threat posed by Europe's largest conflict since World War II underscored growing concern across the Atlantic that internal political strife in the United States is undermining support for Ukraine.
The heads of parliamentary foreign affairs committees from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway have issued a call for US assistance to Ukraine at the end of a two-day visit.
A fight in the US Congress over immigration is holding up the allocation of $61 billion in new military aid.
According to the members of the delegation, they met with administration officials and lawmakers, but mostly sought to talk to Republicans who are resisting the allocation of new aid. According to them, only one skeptical member of the House of Representatives from the Republican Party agreed to meet with them.
There was "no sense of urgency," said Latvian parliamentarian Rihards Kols, adding that it was "strange" that some American lawmakers called on Europeans to communicate more with US citizens to explain the threats of a Russian victory.
"It's absolutely your job to do that," he said in response.
Several members of the delegation criticized President Joe Biden for opposing Ukraine's accession to NATO and his strategy of "doing whatever it takes" to help Kyiv.
"We don't hear a clear message (from the US) about how this war should end," said Marko Mikkelson, chairman of the Estonian parliamentary committee on foreign affairs.
According to members of the delegation, they have repeatedly heard that Europe is not doing enough to help Ukraine. Coles called this a false statement that "really played into Putin's hands" with narratives of war fatigue.
"All of our countries sitting at this table have provided Ukraine with military assistance in excess of 1% of GDP. The United States has provided about 0.3%," Mikkelson said.
russia has significantly increased its military budget, its defense industry is working around the clock, and Moscow is importing western technology despite international sanctions, Coles said.
"We should not underestimate their desire to outdo us," he continued. "They don't care about human lives. They don't care about the cost. We have to wake up.
