German Chancellor calls on US Congress to quickly unblock support for Kyiv

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz this Friday called on the US Congress to “very quickly” unblock support for Ukraine, given the impasse in that body over a new aid package to combat the Russian invasion.

“It would be nice if [a ajuda] unblocked very quickly,” because “without the US contribution, the situation in Ukraine would have been very, very difficult,” the chancellor told reporters.

Scholz, who will be received at the White House around 2:45 pm local time (7:45 pm in Lisbon), insists there is an urgent need for more military aid to Ukraine amid the fight over the vote on the new package. in the US Congress.

The night before, the head of the German government met with several Democratic and Republican senators, urging them to support Kyiv.

“Ukraine needs all our support to be able to defend itself from Russian aggression,” he wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

Before leaving for the US, the German chancellor called on the European Union (EU) and the United States to “do more”, deeming commitments to date “insufficient”.

The bilateral visit, his third since his inauguration in December 2021, comes as Joe Biden (Democrat), campaigning for a second term, and the Republican opposition have been negotiating for months over a text that would include about $60 billion . (55.6 billion euros) military assistance to Ukraine.

The US Senate on Thursday took a tentative first step towards releasing the package, but its future remains highly uncertain as lawmakers close to former President Donald Trump refuse to provide any support for Kyiv.

The 27 countries of the European Union recently agreed on a package of measures worth 50 billion euros until 2027 after Hungary lifted its veto.

The decision on the other side of the Atlantic seems even more important at a time when Ukrainian troops are fighting on the front lines against the Russian occupier.

On Wednesday, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmitry Kuleba called on the EU to quickly increase supplies of ammunition and complained about the “confusing” situation in the United States.

Kyiv is also asking for long-range missiles, but Washington and Berlin are hesitant, fearing the conflict will spill into Russian territory, which could lead to an uncontrollable escalation by the Kremlin, which has raised the nuclear threat several times.

For his part, the chancellor has positioned himself as a supporter of aid to Ukraine: this year he has almost doubled the military aid budget to more than seven billion euros, and has constantly called on his European partners to increase aid, emphasizing that his country is the second largest contributor in absolute terms after The USA cannot carry everything on its shoulders.

This seems all the more important since Donald Trump’s return to the White House cannot be ruled out after the November 5 presidential election. Even while out of office, the former president recently managed to undermine a compromise in Congress on a Ukraine aid package.

Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has created, according to the latest UN data, the most serious refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).

The Russian invasion, justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for the sake of Russia’s security, was condemned by much of the international community, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and stripping Russia of political and economic sanctions.