Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders have applauded the US for passing a vital €89 billion aid bill which has been struggling to make it through the House of Representatives for months.
The House swiftly approved roughly €89 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other US allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion.
With an overwhelming vote, €57 billion in aid for Ukraine passed in a matter of minutes, a strong showing as American lawmakers race to deliver a fresh round of US support to the war-torn ally. Many Democrats cheered on the House floor and waved blue-and-yellow flags of Ukraine.
Any way to give Ukraine 2-4 years worth of stuff at a time?
Not at the rate they use it up. The Ukraine military budget has historically been measured in billions ($4-5B/annually going back to the end of the USSR). We’ve been giving them traunches of aid in the $50-100B range for the last three years. And that’s not including the logistical support we’ve provided out of the Pentagon’s baseline budget.
2-4 years of Ukraine aid at the current scale would be on the order of trillions of dollars. That’s what we’re spending to play tag in Bakhmut at the cost of hundreds of lives a month. Not even what it would cost to “win” back the Donbas (or what would be left of it) in its entirety. Never even mind Crimea.