Ukraine President Zelensky was in Washington D.C. yesterday, in an attempt to save the military aid lifeline his country's ally has continually provided since Russia's February 2022 invasion. Last week, an emergency spending bill to send more than $50 billion in new assistance to Ukraine, as well as $14 billion for Israel, was blocked by Senate Republicans.
Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned after the result that the risks of Ukraine failing to win the war were great, saying the vote was a "serious moment that will have lasting consequences for the 21st century," and that "If Ukraine falls, Putin will not stop there". Schumer added: "Western democracy will begin to enter an age of decline if we aren’t willing to defend it."
While Republicans are yet to show willingness to budge on the issue, Zelensky didn't end his trip empty handed. In a press conference last night, U.S. President Biden told reporters that he had signed "another $200m drawdown from the department of defense for Ukraine”.
As this infographic using data from the Ukraine Support Tracker by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy shows, the United States has been by far Ukraine's most important military aid partner since the war began. Looking at pledges of military aid to Ukraine between January 24, 2022 and October 31, 2023, the U.S. government committed a total of €43.9 billion.
