WASHINGTON ― U.S. lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties have written to the White House asking President Donald Trump to release millions of dollars in military aid for Ukraine that has been held up.
Trump is reportedly stalling the approval of the next $250 million tranche in military assistance for Ukraine allocated annually by Congress in response to Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine. It includes $50 million for weapons.
The Senate’s bipartisan Ukraine Caucus made public a letter it sent to the White House on Sept. 3 voicing its “deep concerns” at the delay in releasing the funds under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
The letter was sent to Trump’s chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, by Caucus co-chairpersons Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio, and Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, and was also signed by Sen. Ron Johnson, Republican from Wisconsin, and Sen. Dick Blumenthal, Democrat from Connecticut, and Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat from New Hampshire.
The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Bob Menendez from New Jersey, separately stated: “In willfully delaying these funds, the Trump administration is once again trying to circumvent Congress’ Constitutional prerogative of appropriating funds for U.S. government agencies. It is also undermining a key policy priority that has broad and deep bipartisan support.”
Although the White House has not explicitly said the money is being stalled, it was reported last week that Trump told national security officials to delay releasing funds to Ukraine while they check if the money is being used “in the best interest of the United States.”
A spokesperson for the House Appropriations Committee said last week they were aware of a freeze on the aid funds and had demanded an explanation from the Trump administration.
On Sept. 1, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, in Warsaw, Poland, for the commemoration of the start of World War II 80 years earlier, said that Trump wants to be sure U.S. taxpayers’ money is being used properly.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was also there and originally he and Trump were to have had their first meeting on the sidelines of the event.
However, Trump cancelled his trip to Poland and instead sent Pence, who met Zelensky.
He later spoke to journalists and Pence voiced support for Ukraine and criticized Moscow’s “illegal occupation of Crimea and Russian aggression in Eastern Ukraine.” He said he discussed further aid to Ukraine with Zelensky but also remarked on “great concerns” about corruption in Ukraine.
He said that Trump wants to ensure “resources are truly making their way to the kind of investments that will contribute to security and stability in Ukraine. And that’s an expectation the American people have and the president has expressed very clearly.”
Pence said the American people have been proud to “stand with Ukraine” but that the U.S. has contributed the lion’s share of assistance to Ukraine and European countries need to carry a larger share of “the load.”
Last week Democratic Party politicians, including the leader of the party’s Senate members, Senator Chuck Schumer, swiftly condemned delays in the Ukrainian aid package.
The Democratic Party controls the House of Representatives and the Republican Party has a small majority in the Senate.
While Trump, the Republican Party leader, routinely shrugs off attacks from the Democratic Party, he cannot ignore criticism from his own senators. Their votes are vital for his legislation proposals to succeed and many voice trenchant support for Ukraine.
In their letter, the lawmakers wrote the aid package is for the long-term viability of the Ukrainian military.
They stated: “It has helped Ukraine develop the independent military capabilities and skills necessary to fend off the Kremlin’s continued onslaughts within its territory. In fact, Ukraine continues to fight daily on its eastern border against Russia-backed separatists in the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, and over 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have lost their lives in this war.
“U.S.-funded security assistance has already helped turn the tide in this conflict, and it is necessary to ensure the protection of the sovereign territory of this young country, going forward. This is not only critical from a security perspective, but it is the only way for Ukrainians to continue their progress toward reforming and defending their country’s democratic institutions.
“In this way, we are helping Ukraine to one day become a net assistance provider, and not just a recipient………We strongly urge you [Trump] to direct the Department of Defense to obligate these funds immediately.”
The delays to assistance for Ukraine came soon after Trump, once again, unsuccessfully lobbied for Russia’s reinstatement in the group of the world’s most advanced economies at a summit in France last month. Russia was expelled from what had been the Group of Eight and is now the G7 for its 2014 invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea.
Trump has frequently expressed admiration for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and downplayed the Kremlin’s criminal actions in Ukraine and elsewhere. That has put Trump at odds with Congress where Ukraine enjoys overwhelmingly bipartisan support.
America’s Ukrainian community has bombarded the White House with phone calls protesting the delay and many have also contacted their political representatives in Congress urging them to put pressure on the president to release the funds.
There is no way to gauge how many Ukrainian-Americans and others have phoned the White House, but one of the operators there told a caller they had seldom fielded so many calls about one issue.
Michael Sawkiw, director of the Ukrainian National Information Service, the communications arm of the biggest diaspora organization in the U.S., the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, said more politicians could weigh in on the issue after they return from their long summer recess next week.
He said: “The fiscal year for Congress runs from Oct. 1 to Sept 30. If the money is not at least in the pipeline for various branches of government like the State Department and the Pentagon to allocate it, it could expire – be lost for the year.”
