The situation is really difficult: expert on US aid to Ukraine

The situation with U.S. assistance for Ukraine is really difficult at the moment. However, the visit of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian delegation to the United States is a very positive signal. Oleksandr Kraev, an expert at the Foreign Policy Council "Ukrainian Prism," told UNN and added that there are lobbyists in the United States who are ready to support Kyiv.

"The situation is really complicated. We see that the Ukrainian issue has become part of the internal political struggle between the parties. We see quite a lot of politicking against this background, and we need to understand that this will continue and in many ways even intensify. The only thing that can interrupt this is if Ukraine does receive a temporary support package, such as the one currently being offered by the Biden administration," Kraev said.

He noted that this would open up the possibility for Ukraine to go through the period before the adoption of the federal budget more calmly.

"Of course, the question is whether there will also be assistance to Ukraine in the federal budget, because if a significant amount is distributed in the temporary package, will the Republicans, or more narrowly, the Trumpists, want to vote for additional support for Ukraine within the federal budget," Kraev said.

He noted that it is now important for Ukraine that the US Congress approves the announced aid package before Christmas.

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"Yes or or another, the key issue for us now is that conservative Republicans, Democrats, everyone who said it was possible to pass the aid package before Christmas, that it actually became possible, that this package was actually passed. And then, any possible problems for us really decrease," Kraev said.

The expert noted that the visit of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian delegation to the United States is a very positive signal.

"It's really good that Zelenskyy is visiting the United States now, it's good that our delegations have become more active. That is, there are questions about their composition, questions about how they are formed, that they are not entirely representative in terms of parliamentary parties, in terms of specific ministries, but in general, the idea that Ukraine is more represented, that Ukraine is spoken about with Ukrainian voices and that issues that concern us are not resolved without us is, in principle, a very positive signal and we need to continue in the same way," Kraev said.

In addition, Kraev said that according to his sources, it is known that there are lobbyists and businesses in the United States that are ready to support Ukraine.

"Of course, it would be ideal to involve lobbyists, additional sources of information influence, but I think this is already being done, it's just that it's not a public part of the work as usual. From my sources, I know that there are indeed lobbyists who are ready to support us, there are businesses, there is our diaspora that continues to work with us, so in fact, a wide range of information work is being done. This is still the maximum we can afford. Everything else is already related to internal American issues, which are resolved either behind the scenes or during official visits," Kraev said.

Addendum

The US Senate blocked an emergency spending bill to provide billions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine and Israel as Republicans insisted on their demands for stricter immigration controls on the US-Mexico border. 

Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova statedthat the US Senate would reintroduce the emergency aid bill for Ukraine.