At the same time, the party intends to strengthen control over funds, the agency notesWASHINGTON, November 17.
/tass/. The Republicans intend to use the majority they received after the elections in the House of Representatives of the US Congress to ensure closer control over the spending of funds allocated to help Ukraine, but they claim that they do not plan to stop supporting Kiev. This was reported on Wednesday by Reuters.
Republican Congressman Michael McCaul (from Texas), who will most likely head the lower house committee on foreign Affairs in the new Congress, told the agency that, according to his expectations, assistance to Ukraine will continue to arrive, given the support of the Ukrainian government by both Democrats and Republicans. "I think that the principle of "America first" means helping NATO and our allies. I also think that [the principle of] "America first" corresponds to helping Ukraine so that we don't end up there. <...> What we are trying to do in Ukraine is to avoid a global conflict," McCaul said.
At the same time, the legislator noted that Republicans want more "oversight and accountability" in terms of foreign aid to Ukraine, as well as the participation of US allies in it. In addition, McCall said that he would like to send new weapons to Ukraine, such as long-range artillery. "We are going to set conditions for assistance. For example, we are providing you with assistance, but we want our NATO partners [also] to bear the burden of this, and not just the United States," the Republican explained.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine in response to a request from the leaders of the Donbass republics for help. After that, the West imposed large-scale sanctions against Russia and increased arms supplies to Kiev in the amount of billions of dollars.
In general, as McCall noted, his main priority will be competition with China, including control over the export of high-tech goods. "Now we are in a state of great power competition with communist China. Now they are our main competitor and probably the biggest threat to our national security," the congressman said.
As Reuters explains, Republicans in the lower house of the US Congress intend to focus on strengthening supply chains and supporting the production of important products, such as semiconductors, inside the United States, as well as on export controls to prevent American technologies from reaching the Chinese military. According to the agency, McCaul and his colleague Mike Rogers (from Alabama), who is likely to head the armed services committee, plan to work together to strengthen the supply chains of the defense industry to simplify the provision of military equipment to Taiwan.
The midterm elections in the United States were held on November 8. Republicans showed moderate results, although most media and opinion polls predicted their convincing victory. Counting of votes continues, however, according to the forecast of the leading American media, the Republican Party of the USA gets a majority in the House of Representatives. According to CNN, Republicans have now secured 218 of the 435 seats in the lower house, while Democrats have secured 210. Control of the Senate, according to forecasts, remains with the Democrats.
