The Ukrainian president warned on Sunday that his country would lose the war against Russia if American aid of 60 billion dollars, wanted by Joe Biden, remained blocked in Congress due to opposition from the Republican camp supporting Donald Trump.
“If Congress does not help Ukraine, Ukraine will lose the war,” declared Mr. Zelensky in a serious tone during a videoconference exchange with ambassadors of the government fundraising platform, United24 . “Without the support of Congress, it will be difficult for us not to win, or even to survive” as a country, he argued, according to a video of his speech posted on his social networks. “If Ukraine loses the war, other states will be attacked,” the Ukrainian president further warned, estimating that Russia, which invaded its neighbor in February 2022, would then strongly raise the nuclear threat to scare the Western societies.
Ukraine calls for “rapid adoption”
The American program of military and economic assistance to kyiv amounting to $60 billion has been blocked in Congress since last year due to divisions between Democrats and Republicans, with the presidential election looming next November. Its adoption is suspended at the goodwill of Donald Trump’s supporters in the House, who refuse to examine the text as it stands, due to a dispute over the regulation of immigration in the United States.
In recent days, Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken several times to demand “rapid adoption” of this new aid package, which he considers “vital” for Ukraine. The president has been loudly demanding from his Western allies – including the United States, his main military support – for several months more ammunition for his men engaged on the front and more air defense systems. While awaiting a decision, Ukrainian soldiers are forced to save their ammunition and face a confident Russian army which has repelled a major counter-offensive by the Kiev army in the summer of 2023.
The Russian army, more numerous in number, is gradually pushing forward on the eastern front, in the Ukrainian Donbass, and has regularly struck Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in recent weeks, plunging thousands of civilians into darkness. On Sunday, Russian bombings left three dead in the southern region of Zaporizhia and one in Kupiansk in the east, according to Ukrainian authorities. In Russia, near the Ukrainian border, a young girl was killed when shrapnel fell on the car in which she was with five other people, all injured to varying degrees, the governor said. from the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov.