US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will arrive in Europe on Tuesday to try to convince European allies that the United States is still firmly behind Ukraine, as new military aid to Kiev has been blocked in Congress for months, Reuters reported.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson continues to refuse to hold even a vote in the lower house of the legislature in Washington on a new military aid package for Ukraine, as proposed by the White House back in October 2018. last year.

After months of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, the US Senate finally approved a revised form of the plan on February 14.

But Johnson, a loyalist of former President Donald Trump and an opponent of aid to Ukraine, is refusing to bring the bill to a vote on the grounds that it falls within his prerogatives as House speaker.

Since January, the White House has warned that US aid to Ukraine is “completely suspended” due to impasse in Congress.

The head of the Pentagon will confirm the US support for Ukraine

Lloyd Austin will arrive in Europe on Tuesday to chair a monthly meeting of Kyiv’s partners in the Ukraine Contact Group (UDCG) at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, which is gathering around 50 supporters of the country, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Pentagon said before the visit that Austin, who will be making his first trip abroad since being hospitalized for prostate cancer, will reaffirm Washington’s commitment to Ukraine.

But officials on both sides of the Atlantic say the end of US funding is already affecting the battlefield in Ukraine, and that Kyiv’s forces are forced to defend themselves with fewer and fewer resources.

“I think our allies are acutely aware of our funding situation and the Ukrainians more than anybody because of the shortfall that comes from not being able to supply them,” a senior US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity last week.

Also last week, President Joe Biden’s administration announced that it had approved a separate $300 million military aid package for Ukraine. The approval of this package was possible without a vote in Congress, because the amount came from unexpected savings of the Pentagon from military contracts.

In other words, this is an emergency situation, as the White House noted. Representatives of the Biden administration said that they do not rule out the search for additional resources, but they do not compensate for the lack of action by Congress on the aid package for Ukraine.

This package, proposed by the White House last October, includes more than $60 billion in aid to Kyiv.

European allies are independently looking for ways to help Ukraine

Analysts say Lloyd Austin will face skeptical allies during his visit to Europe.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult for American leaders to travel to Europe with the message that the United States is committed to Ukraine in the long term,” said Rachel Rizzo, a research fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Center for Europe, a prominent Washington think tank. Reuters.

“The message of this long-term financial, military and economic support is at odds with the reality of what is happening on Capitol Hill,” Rizzo added, referring to the US Congress.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed their support for Ukraine at a joint press conference last Friday, as European support is now more important to Kyiv than ever.

But U.S. officials say the reality is that without U.S. support, European support for Ukraine will not be enough to deal with a Russian offensive.

“Our allies have no way to really pool their forces to compensate for the lack of US support,” a senior US defense official told Reuters.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi warned that Russia is planning a major new offensive, which it intends to launch in late May or the summer.

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