Ukraine is trying to gain more support within the US Republican Party in the context of the fact that the two right-wing leaders who are advocating for the presidential nomination of their party, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, have distanced themselves from the Ukrainian cause, writes EFE on Saturday, which notes that analysts who are consulted by the Spanish agency, agree that the results are modest so far, reports Agerpres.

Kiev continues to receive positive signals from Republican leaders, who already support sending military and economic aid to Ukraine, but do not reach the most reluctant parts of the party, which could jeopardize the pro-Ukraine position of the United States if the House Alba becomes the Republican leader after the 2024 presidential election.

“Unfortunately, the problem of Ukraine has been extremely politicized within the Republican Party and is used in some sectors in a negative way,” Volodymyr Dubovyk, professor of international relations at Mechinikov Odesa National University, told EFE. “I dare say there is widespread hysteria in some segments of the party,” adds Dubovik, a visiting professor at several US universities.

Dubovik explains the origins of Republican hostility toward Ukraine in 2019, when then-President Donald Trump was accused of pressuring then-president-elect Volodymyr Zelenskyi to have his country’s prosecutors investigate the affairs of Hunter.Biden, the son of current US leader Joe Biden.

“Unfortunately, Ukraine was then involved in an internal political struggle in the USA, the consequences of which are felt even today,” says the professor.

Dubovyk believes that it is difficult for Kyiv to change the attitude of some republican sectors, which have taken their position for reasons that have nothing to do with what Ukraine is doing or not doing. “Ukraine can gain the most by staying out of the political struggle in the US,” he says.

Ukrainian-American journalist and analyst David Kyrytsenko agrees with him. “It will be very difficult for Kyiv to influence those sectors of the Republican Party, because for them Ukraine is a matter of domestic politics,” he says.

Both analysts agree that Ukraine must remain transparent in its fight against corruption to avoid scandals that could be exploited by those hostile to it in the United States.

McCarthy and Pompeo

On March 8, the head of the Ukrainian state invited the chairman of the House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy, to visit Kyiv and see for himself “how we work” and “what we are fighting for.”

McCarthy, who has repeatedly called for tighter controls on financial and military aid to Ukraine, declined the invitation hours later, insisting that Kyiv should not receive “blank checks.” “I don’t need to go to Ukraine to understand what is blanche and what is not,” he said.

Republican congressmen and senators overwhelmingly support aid to Ukraine, but voices in the party opposing the effort or calling for limits are especially strident and valued by a large portion of voters.

According to some analysts, McCarthy’s coldness towards Zelensky and the statements of the governor of Florida and Trump’s main competitor, according to polls, in the fight for the nomination for the US presidency from the Republican Party, are due more to the need to win support among voters and less to their skepticism about Ukraine.

“I think McCarthy understands the importance of continued aid to Ukraine and that his speech is aimed at far-right supporters of the party who are strongly anti-Ukrainian,” analyst Kyrychenko told EFE.

Instead, in early April, Zelensky could count on a visit from Mike Pompeo, former director of the CIA and former secretary of state under Trump, a well-known Republican who confirmed his commitment to doubling arms supplies to Kyiv during a trip to Ukraine.

A delegation of Republicans led by Congressman Michael Turner, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, was in Kyiv at the same time as Pompeo. Turner assured Zelensky of the Republicans’ “overwhelming” support for aid to Ukraine.

At the end of February, the Ukrainian president received another delegation of Republican congressmen led by the chairman of the committee on foreign affairs, Michael McCaul.

Although his chances of winning the Republican presidential nomination appear slim, Pompeo has pitched pro-Ukraine arguments to American right-wing media outlets such as Fox News, which could resonate with the conservative American electorate.

“A protracted conflict that puts (Russian President) Vladimir Putin in control of Kyiv or spills over into Europe will cost the Americans far more than the quick provision of weapons and training to end it,” Pompeo told Fox from the Ukrainian capital.

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