U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken referred to Ukraine conflict during his yearend press briefing in Washington D.C.
“We will continue to rally countries around the world to support Ukraine’s freedom and independence and to ensure that Russia’s aggression remains a strategic failure. Putin has already failed to achieve his principal objective in Ukraine: erasing it from the map, subsuming it into Russia.
It’s been a hard year on the battlefield, but, once again, Ukrainians have done what no one thought was possible: They stood toe to toe with one of the world’s biggest militaries, they conceded no territory despite multiple Russian offensives, and they pushed Russia’s navy back in the Black Sea and opened a corridor to allow them to export their grain and other products to the world.
Russia is weaker militarily, economically, diplomatically. NATO is bigger and stronger and more united than at any point in its nearly 75-year history. This year, we added our 31st member of NATO – Finland. And Sweden will join soon, bringing even greater potency and capability to our defensive alliance.
International support has been critical to Ukraine’s success. Europe has contributed more than $110 billion to Ukraine compared to about $70 billion from the United States. So we have with Ukraine and in Ukraine maybe the best example of burden sharing that I’ve seen in the time that I’ve been engaged in these issues.
Our support hasn’t just helped Ukrainians. Ninety percent of the security assistance that we provided to Ukraine has been spent here in the United States, benefiting American businesses, workers, communities, strengthening our nation’s defense industrial base.
The President has made of Congress, there is no magic pot of money that we can draw from. The assistance, the support that we have designated for Ukraine, that is running out; it’s running down. We are nearly out of money that we need, and we’re nearly out of time. I can’t put a precise date on it, but that’s the direction that this is moving in, which underscores the urgency of getting this supplemental budget request through.
We’ve provided about $70 billion to Ukraine over the last couple of years – our allies and partners, more than $110 billion. So they are more than picking up their share of the burden. I mentioned before, virtually all of the security assistance that we’ve provided Ukraine and the security assistance that would be in – that’s in this supplemental budget request, that gets invested right here in the United States. That’s where it’s spent. And that not only helps procure the weapons that Ukraine needs; it provides good jobs here in the United States. It builds our own defense industrial base. So in many ways, this is a win-win for us, and it’s why I would hope Congress acts and acts quickly”, Blinken said.
