The Kremlin warned that American support for Ukraine could turn into a decade-long folly, urging the U.S. to not oppose its invasion of the country as Congress appears set to pass a $60 billion aid package.
The aid deal comes after months of negotiations, with support for Ukraine wavering among American conservatives as the Russian military gains ground after two years of fighting.
“Washington’s deeper and deeper immersion in the hybrid war against Russia will turn into a loud and humiliating fiasco for United States such as Vietnam and Afghanistan,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, Reuters reported.
The House passed a broad foreign aid spending bill on Saturday that includes funds for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan for a total of $95 billion. The Senate is expected to easily pass the measure, which President Biden supports.
Ukrainian leaders and American military experts, including CIA Director William Burns, have urged Congress to fund Ukraine aid for months, given gains by the Russian military. Burns warned last week that Ukrainian soldiers are running out of arms and could not defend against Russia alone.
“With the boost that would come from military assistance‚ both practically and psychologically — Ukrainians are entirely capable of holding their own through 2024 and puncturing Putin’s arrogant view that time is on his side,” Burns said Thursday.
“Without supplemental assistance, this picture is a lot more dire, and there is a very real risk that the Ukrainians could lose on the battlefield by the end of 2024,” he continued. “Or at least put Putin in a position where he could essentially dictate the terms of a political settlement.”
The U.S. and NATO allies have refused to send their own troops to Ukraine, the fundamental difference between the conflict and those in Vietnam and Afghanistan.