Billions more in US Ukraine aid spurs reaction

The flow of billions of dollars from the US government to Ukraine in its military conflict with Russia has gone largely unopposed, with both major political parties in support.

But the latest tranche — $40 billion — which was approved by the House of Representatives late Tuesday by a vote of 368-57, sparked an outcry on social media and by some politicians as it was contrasted with US domestic issues such as a shortage of baby formula, record high gasoline prices and soaring inflation.

The appropriation is also expected to pass the Senate.

"Act quickly we must," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Wednesday. "I will make sure this is a priority for the Senate. We have a moral obligation to stand with our friends in Ukraine."

"I think there'll be substantial support," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican. "We're going to try to process it as soon as possible."

All the votes in opposition to the Ukraine aid in the House were by Republicans.

The new legislation would bring American support for Ukraine to nearly $54 billion, including the $13.6 billion Congress enacted in March. That is about $6 billion more than the US spent on all its foreign and military aid in 2019, according to a January report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

The $40 billion package also was $7 billion more than President Joe Biden had requested.

A senior Russian official said in Moscow on Wednesday that the aid was part of Washington's proxy war against Russia.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council, said that the funding was driven by a desire to "inflict a heavy defeat on our country, restrict its economic development and political influence in the world".

Despite the Western sanctions against Russia, the Russian ruble is the world's best-performing currency this year, up more than 11 percent against the US dollar. The ruble also has made the most gains among 31 major currencies, according to data tracked by Bloomberg, and has overtaken the Brazilian real, which is up 9 percent this year.

A major factor in the ruble's rebound is that Moscow has demanded payments for its natural gas exports in rubles.

Of the latest US aid to Kyiv, journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote on Substack: "While some of that is earmarked for economic and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, most of it will go into the coffers of the weapons industry — including Raytheon, on whose Board of Directors the current Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, sat immediately before being chosen by Biden to run the Pentagon.

Raytheon and Lockheed Martin manufacture Javelin anti-tank missiles that have been shipped to the Ukraine military.

"But as gargantuan as Biden's already-spent and newly requested sums are — for a ten-week war in which the US claims not to be a belligerent — it was apparently woefully inadequate in the eyes of the bipartisan establishment in Congress, who is ostensibly elected to serve the needs and interests of American citizens, not Ukrainians," Greenwald wrote.

He said that "it is extremely difficult to isolate any benefit to ordinary American citizens from all of this, it requires no effort to see that there is a tiny group of Americans who do benefit greatly from this massive expenditure of funds. That is the industry of weapons manufacturers."

Greenwald wrote, "Typically, what we see in such situations is what we are seeing now: the establishment wings of both parties are in complete lockstep unity, always breathlessly supporting the new proposed US role in any new war, eager to empty the coffers of the US Treasury and transfer it to the weapons industry while their constituents suffer."

He said that "surely the US government should be prioritizing the ability of its own citizens to live above the poverty line, have health insurance, send their kids to college, and buy insulin and baby formula".

US Senator Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican, warned Tuesday that the US is risking war with Russia by "poking the bear".

He made the comments during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant General Scott Berrier.

"You know, we're kind of poking the bear here … we're bragging about it. Even President Biden said today, 'Wait a minute. We got to cut back on this,'" Tuberville said of intelligence leaks to the media detailing how the US has assisted Ukraine on military strategy.

Sohrab Ahmari, founding editor of Compact magazine, tweeted: "$40 billion for Ukraine while Americans can't afford gas and there's a baby-formula shortage: This is a great line of political attack for populist Republicans in the Senate. Hahaha, just kidding, most of them will back the $40 billion package."

Elise Stefanik, a Republican member of Congress from New York state tweeted: "I have heard from countless #NY21 (congressional district) parents who are suffering because of Biden's baby formula shortage."

But her tweet drew this response from Catharine O'Neill, CEO of Meriwether Farms in Wyoming: "Why did you then just vote to ship another $40 billion overseas to Ukraine? Save it."

One user, @RedWingGrips tweeted: "Time it took for Congress to send you a $600 stimulus check: 5 months. Time it took for Congress to send Ukraine $40 billion: 36 hours."

Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, wrote Tuesday on antiwar.com: "Instead of talking about victory (in Ukraine), the Biden administration should promote peace. Ukraine is being ravaged. Europe would be the immediate target if the conflict spreads.

"And America's homeland would be the final target if a US-Russian military confrontation spiraled out of control. Nothing involved in today's conflict is worth taking these kinds of risks."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.