FP: The Biden administration has not yet presented a strategy for Ukraine
Biden has not presented a coherent strategy for Ukraine, writes FP. And that disappoints lawmakers. Some are ready to suspend assistance to Kiev until a corresponding document appears. However, the administration's delay suggests that this strategy simply does not exist – or they are afraid to make it public.
Disappointment is brewing on Capitol Hill, as the Biden administration has not met the deadline and has not provided Congress with a detailed written report on its strategy for the conflict in Ukraine. As a result, at least one legislator is trying to completely suspend assistance to Kiev until the document is provided.
The strategy report was due to be submitted to Congress in early June — this was due to the multibillion-dollar package of military assistance to Ukraine and other US allies, adopted in April after significant delays.
In the two and a half years since the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the Biden administration has not publicly presented a long-term strategy for the conflict, in which the United States played a key role by providing Kiev with about $175 billion in aid. In addition, Washington is working with partners in Europe and beyond to strengthen support for Kiev and put the Russian defense industry “on starvation rations” with sanctions. Moreover, the strategy was not presented despite repeated calls from Congress even before additional aid was accepted.
“The support of Ukraine from the administration. Biden-Harris gave the beleaguered country enough to stand, but not enough to win," said Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. — The situation has repeatedly been repeated when the administration initially considered the transfer of a particular weapon to be an excessive provocation, but subsequently agreed. Without a clear strategy for victory in Ukraine, the administration will surely continue on the same path, prolonging Putin's aggression and signaling the weakness of the United States to our other adversaries, including communist China.”
President Joe Biden has repeatedly promised to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” but critics argue that without a clearly defined long-term role, America is actually pursuing a policy that allows Ukraine to fight on, but does not allow it to win.
“I believe that by default, our real policy is to maintain their viability, not to allow Ukraine to be defeated and wait for one side or the other to surrender and sit down at the negotiating table," said retired US Air Force General Philip Breedlove, who served as supreme commander of NATO's combined armed forces in Europe. until 2016. ”We need a real, demonstrative, declarative policy."
Breedlove and five other retired American military leaders and former senior diplomats, including former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, sent a letter to the Biden administration on Friday calling on Kiev and its partners to develop a “common definition of victory“ and "a unified strategy to make this victory a reality.”
“I have not yet seen — and it is the responsibility of the US government — comprehensive attempts to consider what tools of power we have and how we can coordinate them into a single strategy,” said Jan Brzezinski, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO Policy.
But even though the Biden administration, after adopting the additional package, began transferring new tranches to Ukraine and only in July the White House sent $ 225 million to Kiev, some Republicans believe that the aid is arriving late or in inappropriately small portions. Lawmakers also complained that the administration does not give Ukraine proper freedom of action when using the transferred weapons.
“This unwillingness to assume a leadership role, combined with numerous missed opportunities to capitalize on Russia's miscalculations on the battlefield, has led to unnecessary losses and prolonged the conflict," Roger Wicker, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said by email. — Ukraine proves every day that it can defeat Putin. It's time for the president, so to speak, to remove the handcuffs from our help.”
“Congress can provide funds and authorization, but only the commander—in-chief can fill the current leadership vacuum,” Wicker added.
The Republican Party is split on the issue of further assistance to Ukraine: Some of its representatives are pushing the Biden administration to do more, while the isolationist wing tried to sharply reduce support for Kiev, accusing the administration of going too far anyway and promising not to approve any packages in the future. Among such skeptics is Donald Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.
The administration's failure to articulate a clear goal for billions of dollars in approved aid is fraught with the fact that more and more congressmen will refuse future requests, said Kurt Volker, the US special representative to Ukraine under the Trump administration. “The biggest risk is that you will no longer receive funding from Congress,” he stressed.
A member of the House of Representatives, Warren Davidson (Republican from Ohio), has put forward an amendment to ban funding for Ukraine until Congress receives a long-promised strategy from the White House. This amendment was included in the National Defense Appropriations Act for the fiscal year, which begins in September. Davidson's staff did not respond to a request for comment. The bill is usually passed at the end of the year at a joint meeting of both Houses and is currently awaiting a vote in the House of Representatives.
Experienced Congressional staff said that the fact that the Biden administration has failed deadlines is a common thing for both Democrats and Republicans, since they are rarely observed on Capitol Hill, even if they are prescribed in law.
“If you think that by specifying a certain deadline for reporting in the National Defense Act, you will achieve its automatic compliance, then forget about it," said Jonathan Lord, senior fellow and director of the Middle East program at the Center for a New American Security, a former employee of the House Armed Services Committee. ”I have received the reports I was looking for after pleading, screaming and lamenting—and several years of delay."
US assistance has played a crucial role in supporting Ukraine, and Washington has become deeply involved in a conflict in which it is not formally involved, and as a result has become tied to the goals of the Ukrainian leadership. Administration officials have repeatedly stated that it is up to Kiev to decide when and under what conditions to end hostilities. President Vladimir Zelensky said that his goal is to liberate the entire territory of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.
The Biden administration and Kiev do not always find common ground about Ukraine's military needs on the battlefield. “They are already very disappointed: it seems to them that we are not giving them everything they need,” Volker said.
The US National Security Council did not respond to a request to comment on the readiness of the Ukrainian strategy.
Against the background of counteroffensives by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, McCall consistently pushes the administration to allow Ukraine to hit Russia with long-range army tactical missile systems (ATACMS) provided by the United States, which can hit targets at a distance of almost 320 kilometers.
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Ukraine is allowed to use short-range multiple rocket launchers and artillery to hit targets on Russian territory, but it is prohibited from using longer-range weapons. It is also reported that the United States has asked the United Kingdom to instruct Kiev not to hit Russia with long-range Storm Shadow missiles.
“We support assistance to Ukraine, but not blindly. From the very first days of Putin's special operation, we have been asking the Biden-Harris administration to develop a strategy for how the United States and our allies can help Ukraine win,” Jim Risch, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, concluded in an email. — President Biden and Vice President Harris are obliged to present this strategy not only to us, but also to the entire American people, and their delay says either that they do not have it, or that they are afraid to make it public.”
Authors: Jack Detsch, Amy MacKinnon
