Ukrainian MPs visit Columbus to drum up support for continued war aid
Last week, members of Ukraine’s parliament fanned out across the U.S. to meet with state officials on their home turf. They’re doing whatever they can to build support for continued aid, as funding dwindles. In Columbus, Ukrainian members of parliament Yehor Cherniev and Lesia Zaburanna visited the Ohio Statehouse as part of that effort.
A contingent of Republican lawmakers, however, are attempting to stand in the way of that aid package. One of the most vocal opponents has been Ohio Republican U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance.
Where things stand
In October, President Joe Biden sent Congress a supplemental funding request. That proposal included money for Ukraine and Israel as well as funding for the southern border and allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
At the time, the U.S. House was still mid-implosion as Republicans tried and repeatedly failed to coalesce around a new leader. Despite House Speaker Mike Johnson’s ascension, lawmakers haven’t really made headway on aid legislation. The House approved funding for Israel alone and paid for it by cutting the same amount from the IRS budget. The idea was dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate.
Monday, the Biden administration urged Congress to take action.
“There is no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment,” Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young wrote to Congressional leaders. “We are out of money — and nearly out of time.”
“This isn’t a next year problem,” she insisted, noting the existing funding won’t last beyond the end of the year.
At the same time, Vance joined U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., to argue against more aid in The Washington Post. Their letter to the editor pointed to polling suggesting the majority of Americans no longer support sending aid to Ukraine.
The MPs’ pitch
Cherniev serves as deputy chair of Ukraine’s Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, and Zaburanna is on the country’s Budget Committee. Zaburanna explained their visit is part of a broader attempt to make the case directly to the American people.
“We have very strong collaboration with our colleagues in Congress, in (the) Senate, but now we decided also to go to different states,” she said. “It’s about eight states, to talk with the local government, to talk with people in that state and to explain our arguments to support Ukraine in this difficult historical period for us.”
According to Cherniev and Zaburanna, other MPs visted Arizona, California, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Washington.
“We have to explain to Americans why it’s important for them,” Cherniev said.
He argued the war in Ukraine isn’t really about Ukraine — Ukraine just got in the way.
“Putin started this war not for some pieces of territory of Ukraine,” Cherniev said. “He started this war to revise the word order. And Ukraine it’s just a first step. If Ukraine fall, the next will be the Baltic states. It will mean that NATO will be involved and that U.S. soldiers will be involved in this war.”
Zaburanna argued Russia’s plans to dramatically increase defense spending bolsters that case.
“They are planning to continue not only the war in Ukraine,” she contended, “but they are planning to start new invasions in different countries.”
And Cherniev added that from a cold-blooded, economic outlook, the U.S. might be getting a good deal. According to the Kiel institute for the World Economy, the U.S. has sent Ukraine €69.5 billion (roughly $75 billion) so far, €42.1 (about $45 billion) of that being military aid. The U.S. Defense budget by comparison is $766 billion.
“I think this is the best investment for the U.S. to destroy, by (the) Ukrainian army, Russian capacity to invade in different countries,” he said.
Trying to answer critics
Cherniev also noted “this is not a ship with cash through the ocean to Ukraine.” Like many domestic supporters, He explained, as many domestic supporters have recently, that much of that ‘Ukrainian’ funding is actually spent in the U.S.
“It’s about increase of your production, of your economy, increase of the jobs in the military sphere, and about taxes, which will stay here,” he said.
Vance and Tuberville dismissed that argument, calling it “disingenuous and dangerous.” They argued aid legislation would give the president “authority to continue sending weapons to Ukraine faster than we can produce them.” The Senators add that the war has devolved into a stalemate and “the failure machine must be stopped.”
But Cherniev contends we’ve already tried that approach. He argued Russian President Vladimir Putin’s track record has shown he’ll take a muted response as an invitation for further aggression.
“This peaceful policy led to actually this hot stage of war,” Cherniev said. “Because there weren’t any strong sanctions after the invasion in Georgia in 2008. Then after the occupation of Crimea, in 2014 Putin unfortunately, stayed as a person which you can shake a hand, and he was at the table with other leaders of the democratic world.”
“(Putin) has done it 20 years ago,” Zaburanna added, “and all the world, including sometimes USA, they were silent, and now we have the next step and in future we will have also the next steps of this invasion in different countries and different regions.”
Nick Evans has spent the past seven years reporting for NPR member stations in Florida and Ohio. He got his start in Tallahassee, covering issues like redistricting, same sex marriage and medical marijuana. Since arriving in Columbus in 2018, he has covered everything from city council to football. His work on Ohio politics and local policing have been featured numerous times on NPR. Follow OCJ Reporter Nick Evans on Twitter.