Tens of billions of dollars in US aid has been sent to Ukraine since the invasion in February 2022, but Republican lawmakers have grown reluctant to keep supporting Kyiv, saying it lacks a clear end game as the fighting against President Vladimir Putin's forces grinds on.
As NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg made the case on a visit to Washington, Blinken offered an increasingly dire picture of Ukraine's prospects without US approval of the so-called supplemental funding.
"Without it, simply put, everything that Ukrainians achieved and that we've helped them achieve will be in jeopardy," Blinken told a joint news conference with Stoltenberg.
"Absent that supplemental, we're going to be sending a strong and wrong message to all of our adversaries that we are not serious about the defense of freedom, the defense of democracy," he said.
"It will simply reinforce for Vladimir Putin that he can somehow outlast Ukraine and outlast us," he said.
President Joe Biden has asked Congress to approve $61 billion in new aid to Ukraine.
But the talks have bogged down as Republican lawmakers -- furious over record flows of migrants over the US border with Mexico -- demand major changes in immigration and border control policy in exchange for approving more money for Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said he would meet US lawmakers on Tuesday and make the case that support for Ukraine was "in our own security interest."
"It will be a tragedy for Ukrainians if President Putin wins but it will also make the world more dangerous and all of us more insecure," Stoltenberg said.
"It will embolden other authoritarian leaders -- not only President Putin, but also North Korea, Iran and China to use force," he said.
- 'Tomorrow it could be Taiwan' -
With many Republicans focused on opposing China, Stoltenberg said: "Today it's Ukraine; tomorrow it could be Taiwan."
US and NATO officials have acknowledged limited gains in a counteroffensive launched by Ukraine last year.
But Stoltenberg said that Ukrainians in the longer term have defied expectations, taking back half of the territory seized by Russia which had expected a swift takeover.
"This idea that it doesn't help to help them -- actually, the Ukrainians have proved the opposite," Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg earlier met at the Pentagon with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and top US military officer General Charles "CQ" Brown and later at the White House with Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security advisor.
He also appeared on Fox News, a favorite network of Republicans, and made the case that US weapons help US workers as they are made in the United States.
Donald Trump, the likely Republican candidate in the November presidential election, and who has often praised Putin, is urging Republican lawmakers to reject the immigration accord being negotiated in Congress -- which would also torpedo aid for Ukraine.
- Sweden expected in NATO soon -
Stoltenberg visited after Turkey gave its long-awaited green-light for Sweden to enter NATO.
Hungary, led by nationalist Viktor Orban, is the remaining holdout but both Blinken and Stoltenberg expected approval soon.
Stoltenberg said Orban told him that the Hungarian parliament will reconvene at the end of February.
"I expect also in line with what he said that the parliament will then finalize ratification shortly after that," Stoltenberg said.
Sweden and Finland -- which joined NATO last year -- had once hesitated to enter the alliance for fear of antagonizing Russia, but switched gears after the invasion of Ukraine, which has unsuccessfully sought membership.
Turkey extracted concessions from Sweden on Kurdish militants in the country and US approval of a $23 billion sale of 40 F-16 warplanes -- announced at the same time as a deal for more advanced F-35 jets for Turkey's historic rival Greece, also a NATO member.
China is watching US drama over arming Ukraine: NATO chief
Washington (AFP) Jan 28, 2024 -
US military funding for Ukraine carries a key deterrent message for China, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg argued Sunday at the start of a Washington visit aimed at lobbying Congress to continue funding the war against Russia.
After billions in US aid have been sent to Ukraine since the invasion nearly two years ago, many Republican lawmakers have grown reluctant to keep supporting Kiev, saying it lacks a clear end game as the fighting against President Vladimir Putin's forces grinds on.
President Joe Biden has asked Congress to approve $61 billion in new aid to Ukraine. But the talks have bogged down as Republican lawmakers -- furious over record illegal flows over the US border with Mexico -- demand major changes in US immigration and border control policy in exchange for approving more money for Ukraine.
NATO secretary-general Stoltenberg plans to make the case in Washington this week for continued aid to Ukraine.
"What matters is that Ukraine gets continued support, because we need to realize that this is closely watched in Beijing," Stoltenberg said on Fox News.
Analysts say China, which claims the self-ruled island of Taiwan and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve this control, is watching to see if once-strong Western support for Ukraine is now petering out.
If Ukraine were abandoned by the US and its allies, China might be tempted to take military action to seize control of Taiwan, these analysts warn.
"So it's not only making Europe more vulnerable, but all of us, also the United States, more vulnerable, if Putin gets what he wants in Ukraine," Stoltenberg added.
He said the agreement being negotiated in the US Congress is "a good deal." US aid to Ukraine, Stoltenberg said, has been just a fraction of the Pentagon budget, and yet "we have been able to destroy and degrade the Russian army substantially."
"And therefore we should continue to do so," he said.
US aid to Ukraine also helps American workers, because the money is used to buy weapons made in the United States, the NATO chief said.
Stoltenberg is due to meet Monday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and national security advisor Jake Sullivan.
On Tuesday he is scheduled to meet Republican and Democratic lawmakers involved in the Ukraine aid debate.
Donald Trump, the almost certain Republican candidate in the November presidential election, and who has often spoken fondly of Putin, is urging Republican lawmakers to reject the immigration accord being negotiated in Congress -- which would also torpedo aid for Ukraine.
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