Good news for Ukraine in an otherwise gloomy week
With his soldiers fighting in snowy trenches and his country’s cities under attack by Russian missiles, President Volodymyr Zelensky returned to Ukraine on Friday after a flurry of diplomatic meetings, still hoping for major aid packages from the United States and the European Union to support the war effort.
The latest blow came early Friday, when European Union leaders in Brussels admitted they would not be able to accept a multi-year aid package of 50 billion euros, or about $54.5 billion, over Hungary’s objections.
There was a glimmer of good news in an otherwise bleak week for Ukraine when the European Union agreed on Thursday to open negotiations for Ukraine to join the bloc, following up on promises made shortly after last year’s Russian invasion done.
“This is now a very good morale boost for the Ukrainian people, because we really need it with everything that is happening on the front lines, with everything that is happening in the US,” said Oleksiy Honcharenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, referring to the Ukrainian government. the stalled counter-offensive and the political infighting in Congress blocking further military aid to Ukraine.
“This is truly a remarkable result for Ukraine and for the whole of Europe,” Mr Zelensky said overnight stay on Friday. “Many people in Ukraine are cheerful now, and this is important, this is motivation.”
Many residents of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, echoed Zelensky’s optimism.
“I feel elated today,” Oleksander Baldiniuk, 43, said Friday morning as he stood at the Golden Gate, a reconstructed gate that marked the entrance to the city in the Middle Ages. “This war is also a psychological war, and this is good for our mood.”
Asked about his reaction, a Kiev resident rushing to work snapped: “A Christmas present!”
Yet talks on joining the European Union will take years, and Ukraine now faces urgent challenges. The country depends on foreign aid for about half of its federal budget and for most of the ammunition and weapons its military needs. The EU’s failure to approve more aid follows a disappointing trip by Mr Zelensky to Washington, where he failed to get a commitment from Republican lawmakers for more aid.
Major decisions on aid next year by the United States and the European Union, Kiev’s two biggest military and financial backers, could now be postponed until January.
“They could give us more help now, but somehow they don’t,” said Svetlana Vasylik, a 29-year-old events manager, noting that opening accession negotiations with the European Union will not lead to any short-term would lead to concrete changes. . She said her father, who fights on the front lines, told her his unit was constantly running out of ammunition.
Ukrainian officials have warned that delays would strengthen Russia and increase the risk of costly setbacks. That has been a recurring theme in Kiev since the early stages of the war, including when they urged Western allies to supply heavy and rocket artillery last year, and tanks this year.
In the absence of substantive new commitments, Mr Zelensky has emphasized the EU’s decision to join the bloc and aid pledges from individual countries.
“I am returning to Ukraine, I am now in Lviv, with a European Union decision and other matters that will strengthen our air defense,” Mr. Zelensky said in a video address filmed on a snowy street.
After leaving Washington empty-handed, Mr. Zelensky attended a summit of Nordic leaders and received pledges of about $1 billion in military aid from Denmark and new aid from Norway. Mr Zelensky said Finland, Sweden and Spain were preparing new aid. On Wednesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised to double aid next year to almost $9 billion.
Regarding the opening of EU accession negotiations, Mr. Zelensky said the move was “another political artillery shell that will bring victory closer.”
He said he expected the US Congress would soon “make the necessary decision” on a $64 billion military and financial aid package. Republicans have said they will not approve the aid without a compromise from Democrats on immigration policy and security at the southern U.S. border.
Shorter delays will not cripple Ukraine’s finances and military. Funding remains at the Pentagon to transfer weapons into the new year, and previously approved military aid is on its way. Still, artillery crews along the southeastern front have said they are having to ration shells.
Kateryna Zarembo, associate fellow at the Kiev-based New Europe Center, said she was confident that the European bloc’s leaders – who will meet again early next month to try to reach a unanimous agreement on the € 54.5 billion – ultimately the funds to Ukraine. “Personally, I wouldn’t worry too much about this,” she said.
Maintaining air defense capabilities is crucial for Ukraine’s military and economy to thwart near-night Russian missile and drone attacks that could hamper army logistics and plunge cities into blackouts. Throughout the week, as congressional and European Union leaders considered aid, Russia fired multiple salvos of exploding drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
Falling debris from missiles intercepted by Ukraine’s Western-supplied air defenses over Kiev injured dozens of people on Wednesday.