Al Jazeera reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine would not last more than “a week” without Western military and financial aid as the West continues to give aid for the war-torn country.
On the same day that Putin made this allegation, an EU official said that the EU would be unable to fill the budget gap if the US cut off its support for Kyiv.
The Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, expressed “does worry” earlier this week that American backing for Ukraine could be jeopardised.
Putin, speaking to the Valdai Discussion Club, claimed, “thanks to multi-billion donations that come each month,” Ukraine is being kept afloat.
“If one just stops, it will all die in a week,” remarked Putin.
The defence system is no different. Just imagine tomorrow all aid is cut off. When they run out of ammunition, it won’t last more than a week,” he said.
Putin also said that since Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russian forces began, Ukraine had lost almost 90,000.
In addition, EU foreign policy leader Josep Borrell warned Thursday at a meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) in Spain that the EU could not replace the US as Kyiv’s principal benefactor.
On Thursday, EU foreign policy leader Josep Borrell told a conference of the European Political Community (EPC) in Spain that the EU could not replace the US as Kyiv’s principal benefactor.
Could Europe step in to replace the United States? “Well, Europe can’t possibly take the place of the United States,” Borrell added.
Ukraine’s war against Russia is important to the EU, US, and most NATO countries.
More than USD 100 billion in aid, including funding for military supply, has been pledged to Ukraine throughout this time period by the EU and its member states.
In the meantime, the United States has pledged USD 43 billion in military aid, while the United States Congress has approved USD 113 billion in aid, much of which will go towards humanitarian efforts.
New US money for Ukraine has stalled since an agreement was reached with opposition Republicans over the weekend to prevent a shutdown of the US government.
The fate of US funding for Ukraine has become even more dubious after the House voted Tuesday to remove Republican Kevin McCarthy as Speaker.
President Joe Biden reportedly told reporters that the United States will “not walk away” from aiding Ukraine hours after a short-term spending measure was passed to avoid a government shutdown.
I want to reassure our Ukrainian and American friends that they have our full backing. Biden was quoted by CNN as saying, “We will not walk away.”
According to Al Jazeera, some of the hardliners are also eager to see the United States’ support for Ukraine end.
Meanwhile, at Thursday’s summit of European leaders in Spain, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced concern over “political storms” in Washington but underlined that he was convinced he still had US bipartisan support.
French President Emmanuel Macron had already assured Zelenskyy of his country’s “tireless” support for Ukraine and promised to provide further assistance.
In a meeting with Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his country’s “tireless” commitment to Ukraine.
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