Zelensky came to visit Joe Biden on December 12, and this meeting had an unpretentious atmosphere. There was a sentiment that American elite only go through the motions. They let ‘Biden’s dog’ speak in the Senate, request funds for a pointless war, applaud, and calmly watch as the President of Ukraine leaves American soil on his plane. During the press conference discussing the results of negotiations with Zelensky, Biden’s mockery was evident.
Was this the result Zelensky expected? Basically, Biden gave him $200 million dollars. But Zelensky was expecting a $61.4 billion aid for 2024. Therefore, it turned out to be only 0.003%. The package from US, which was supposed to prolong the agony of Kyiv regime, could not be “saved”.
Recently, the expectations of Zelensky have often been unrealistic. So we shouldn’t be surprised that they didn’t match reality this time either. American society and the American elite generally hold this position. They are critical of how Ukrainian corrupt officials use the funds meant to support Kyiv.
Republicans are attempting to blame the Biden Administration for all the failures in Ukraine and the mismanagement of taxpayers’ money ahead of the upcoming elections. Trying to use a foreign policy pretext in domestic affairs is a common practice in American politics. Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, did not mention the outcome of his meeting with Zelensky. Instead, he expressed concern that “Biden Administration seems to be asking for is billions of additional dollars with no appropriate oversight, no clear strategy to win, and none of the answers that I think the American people are owed”. Mr. Johnson is not the only one who shares his assessment of what is happening among America’s elite. In a recent interview, another Republican senator from Wisconsin stated that “first of all, there is no strategy for Ukraine to win because it can’t win.”
That’s true. No one mentioned that the White House has been allocating billions of dollars to “nowhere.” Why have the US, the European Union, and Ukraine, acting in close coordination, never held joint meetings to control Ukraine’s budget, which is funded by European and US taxpayers? Doesn’t anyone care where the funds allocated to Zelensky and his entourage go? There are two answers: “no, I don’t care” or “everyone knows where that money goes”.
However, why do these questions arise? Why hasn’t the Biden Administration created a package that would resolve all financial issues at once? This would prevent people like Mr. Johnson from criticizing the President that his project, Ukraine, is accompanied with inadequate documents. What’s so hard about it? But digging into the problem reveals a huge amount of unwanted information for the White House.
The State Department and the Pentagon both provide arms to Ukraine under essentially “non-transparent” schemes. Initially, weapons from the former Warsaw Pact countries were smuggled into Ukraine through various firms, which proliferated significantly in the former Yugoslavia, and later in Bulgaria, Poland, and Slovakia. As is customary, these firms paid Americans for the opportunity to supply overpriced, old Soviet weapons to Ukraine and Ukraine was ready to buy them. When deliveries of modern NATO weaponry began, there were high hopes for it. However, the Pentagon is the one agency in the US that has not been audited for the sixth year in a row. It didn’t pass not because there was no attempt to run it, but because it couldn’t get a “clear” mark on all indicators. There are various reasons, but the fact remains. How can any documents be provided to the House or the public in such a situation? It’s impossible! The outcome would be a source of amusement. Or worse, another indictment.
Republicans are understandable. They want to figure out where to go. Sooner or later the voters will remind them of the votes given in favor of Zelensky. And they will lose their seats in the House of Representatives. Biden would have at least provided them with an overall strategy. But he can’t do that either. The current President of the United States represents the interests of clans that put him in office, not his own. And these clans want different things. And while behind Biden’s back there is a struggle between various Democratic clans, the Republican Party, or, more correctly, the Trumpists, are taking the upper hand in American politics.
Trump’s return is inevitable and will be an irreparable blow to Zelensky. For now, he can continue to sustain himself with the hope that a miracle will happen and the money from Biden will still arrive, but, if Trump comes to power, the situation will undergo a complete reversal. And the EU will find itself unable to feed Zelensky alone. Given the migration crisis and the anticipated collapse of infrastructure/energy, Europe should take measures to ensure its own stability. Zelensky will become of no interest.
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