A top Biden administration official on Sunday said the United States would continue to send Ukraine aid and weapons “as long as it takes” for the war with Russia to come to an end.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan made the comments on ABC News’s “This Week” with host George Stephanopoulos, saying that the American people have really “hung in there” in terms of being supportive of the aid. Sullivan noted that, despite some Republicans in Congress expressing their discontent with continued assistance, high-ranking Republicans such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have continued to support it.
“I actually think there is a strong backing for Ukraine in the Congress, not just among Democrats, but among Republicans as well,” Sullivan said. “Therefore, we believe that we can back up the statement that we will give Ukraine everything it needs for as long as it takes.”
Asked by Stephanopoulos whether he was worried about the support of the American people as the war continues to drag on, Sullivan said opinion polls today show Americans are largely supportive of aid to Ukraine.
“If you look at the Republican Party, there is a small cadre of Republicans who stand up and say, ‘we should stop helping Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression,’” Sullivan told the host. Despite this, the national security adviser pointed to McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) co-signing a statement expressing their continued support for assistance to Ukraine.
Despite some Republicans calling to end Ukraine aid, Jake Sullivan says there is “strong backing for Ukraine in the Congress.”
“We believe that we can back up the statement that we will give Ukraine everything it needs for as long as it takes.” https://t.co/jU42HJgtCo pic.twitter.com/sQ04RpxJQy
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) July 16, 2023
Since the war began, the United States Congress has allocated roughly $113 billion in aid to Ukraine; no other country has come close to what the U.S. has sent. And on Thursday, the Pentagon confirmed that controversial cluster bombs provided by the U.S. had arrived in Ukraine. The munitions were part of an $800 million weapons package to the country.
President Joe Biden has made similar comments regarding American aid to the country, saying the U.S. would continue to send weapons and support for “as long as it takes.” Despite this, the number of Americans weary of continued aid to Ukraine is increasing.
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According to a Gallup poll released last month, 44% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters believe the aid is “too much,” up from 40% in January and 9% in March 2022. Just 14% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning voters have the same view as of June, up from 5% in March 2022.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received advice from the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Defense, who said the country must be more grateful for the international aid it continues to receive.
“There is a slight word of caution here, which is that whether we like it or not people want to see gratitude,” Wallace told journalists during a briefing. “My counsel to the Ukrainians is sometimes you’re persuading countries to give up their own stocks [of weapons] and yes the war is a noble war and yes we see it as you doing a war for — not just yourself — but our freedoms.”
Since early June, Ukraine has been engaged in a counteroffensive against Russia. According to American and European officials, in the first two weeks of the campaign, roughly 20% of the weaponry on the battlefield was either destroyed or damaged, including Western tanks and armored personnel carriers, according to a report from The New York Times. However, in the weeks after, that number dropped to closer to 10% partly because of changing tactics, the report noted.