Ukraine's supporters are anxiously awaiting to see if House Speaker Mike Johnson's plans for a new U.S. aid package for Ukraine can succeed and help Kyiv fight Vladimir Putin's aggression.
Johnson said on Tuesday that he planned to advance an aid deal for Kyiv next to separate packages for Taiwan, Israel and other U.S. allies, following months of deadlock on assistance for Ukraine due to opposition from some Republicans.
With ammunition and equipment running low for Ukraine, the message from Kyiv is that time is of the essence with Johnson's proposals. Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said on Wednesday that a lack of air defense supplies from its partners is killing innocent people, after a Russian missile strike on Chernihiv killed at least 14 people.
"A rocket reaches Kharkiv in less than two minutes, while decisions on aid take two months," Michael Chernomorets, co-founder of the non-profit Rescue Now which helps Ukrainians in the front-line and de-occupied territories, told Newsweek.
"It's not only our war, and it's a bit of a misfortune to be in the middle of the U.S. politics season and see how it influences the situation in Ukraine giving Putin a chance to take an advantage," he said.
However, Chernomorets believes that the assistance from the U.S. will eventually come. "We cannot imagine a situation in which our greatest ally could leave us alone in the largest military conflict of the 21st century," he said.
While Ukraine's supporters may feel Johnson's bill is the last roll of the dice for crucial American support without which President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv will be defeated, the House speaker is taking a gamble of his own.
The four-bill strategy includes a national security package aimed at appeasing wary conservatives within the House GOP and avoid threats of an ouster.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is the most prominent GOP opponent, filing a motion to vacate that could strip Johnson of his post, while the speaker has brushed off his detractors. Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie said he would support Johnson's removal if Greene's resolution is activated.
"If Speaker Johnson's plan is a good-faith effort to get Ukraine meaningful support, it will earn Razom's endorsement," said Mykola Murskyj, director of advocacy at Razom, which advocates for Ukraine, in a statement to Newsweek.
"If not, the House is ready to advance a discharge petition and Razom stands ready to hand each member a pen to sign it with," he said, referring to the legislative procedure requiring a House majority to release the legislation from the committees so it can be voted on, bypassing the speaker.
"This is Johnson's last chance to be part of the solution," Murskyj said, adding that any plan to pass supplemental aid must enable the U.S. to immediately deliver military assistance to Ukraine.
"Any new loan component cannot undermine existing mechanisms such as Presidential Drawdown Authority, the main tool used by the U.S. to rapidly send military aid to Ukraine," he said. "There are no excuses for delays."
Johnson has said he is "not concerned" about moves for his ouster and The Hill reported Democrats welcome the speaker's four-vote strategy as long as it does not too stray too much from the Senate's $95 billion aid package.
Johnson had previously declined to allow the Republican-controlled House to vote on the measure but support for U.S. allies gained new urgency after Iran's weekend missile and drone attack on Israel.
"I hope that the change in the rhetoric of Speaker Mike Johnson will become the first step in a rethinking of the Russian threat by American politicians," said Tetiana Hranchak, who fled Ukraine after the invasion and is now a visiting assistant teaching professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
"The current decision regarding aid to Ukraine, if it is adopted, is important, although it does not allow to solve the problem of Russian aggression and terror systematically," she told Newsweek.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
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