USA (Washington Insider Magazine)—US military funding for Ukraine holds a key deterrent message for China, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg claimed on Sunday at the start of a Washington visit, strived at lobbying Congress to continue funding the war against Russia. Further, he said, China is closely watching how long the US and Europe can maintain support for Ukraine.
After billions in US aid have been dispatched to Ukraine since the attack nearly two years ago, many Republican lawmakers have grown unwilling to keep supporting Kyiv, stating it lacks a straightforward end game as the fighting against President Vladimir Putin´s forces crushes on.
President Joe Biden has requested Congress to approve $61 billion in new assistance to Ukraine. However, the talks have calmed down as Republican lawmakers — furious over record illicit flows over the US border with Mexico, require significant changes in US immigration and border control policy in exchange for supporting more money for Ukraine.
On the other hand, Donald Trump, the almost particular Republican candidate in the November presidential election and who has often spoken fondly of Putin, is urging Republican lawmakers to reject the immigration accord being bargained in Congress — which would also torpedo aid for Ukraine.
NATO secretary-general Stoltenberg intends to make the case in Washington this week for continued assistance to Ukraine.
“What matters is that Ukraine gets continued support because we need to realise that this is closely watched in Beijing,” Stoltenberg expressed on Fox News.
“It is important that Putin doesn’t get his way in Ukraine because that will embolden other authoritarian powers,” Stoltenberg stated. “Today, it’s Ukraine; tomorrow, it may be Taiwan.”
Analysts express that China, which claims the self-ruled island of Taiwan and has not ruled out the use of force to accomplish this control, is watching to see if once-strong Western support for Ukraine is now petering out.
If the US and its allies ditched Ukraine, China might be tempted to take military action to seize control of Taiwan, these analysts warn.
“So it´s not only making Europe more vulnerable, but all of us, also the United States, more vulnerable, if Putin gets what he wants in Ukraine,” Stoltenberg added.
Stoltenberg said the southern US border crisis is “crucial in the United States as it is in many other NATO countries.”
But he said financing in helping Ukraine resist Moscow’s advances is a “good deal” for the Western world.
“We need to realise that this is closely watched in Beijing,” he expressed. “So it’s not only making Europe more vulnerable but all of us, also the United States, more vulnerable if Putin gets what he wants in Ukraine.”
He contended the agreement negotiated in the US Congress was “a good deal.” US aid to Ukraine, Stoltenberg said, has been just a fraction of the Pentagon budget, and yet “we have been able to destroy and degrade the Russian army substantially.” “And therefore, we should continue to do so,” he said.
Relatively, A US intelligence examination also found that Russia has lost 87% of the ground troops and two-thirds of the tanks it fielded for its initial invasion of Ukraine, CNN noted in December.
And given recent death figures, Russia is on track to lose 500,000 soldiers by the end of 2024, UK intelligence expressed in early January.
US aid to Ukraine also helps American workers because the money is used to purchase weapons made in the United States, the NATO chief said. Stoltenberg will meet on Monday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. On Tuesday, he is scheduled to meet Republican and Democratic lawmakers involved in the Ukraine aid debate.
