After President Joe Biden over the weekend signed a stopgap funding bill that did not include aid for Ukraine, given Congressional Republicans are blocking it, European leaders have vowed Monday to commit to lasting support for Kiev.
EU foreign ministers are taking part in a "historic" meeting in the Ukrainian capital, even as the war grinds on into its 20th month. "We are convening in a historic meeting of the EU foreign ministers here in Ukraine, candidate country and future member of the EU," the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced. He said it is to "express our solidarity and support to the Ukrainian people," but also cautioned that the meeting "does not have the aim of reaching concrete conclusions and decisions."
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba praised the EU at a moment of simultaneous disappointment with Washington as billions in US aid hangs in the balance. "For the first time ever the foreign affairs council is going to sit down outside of its current borders — outside the borders of the European Union — but within future borders of the European Union," Kuleba said in a press briefing alongside Borrell.
France's foreign minister Catherine Colonna framed the meeting as intending to signal Moscow that Europe is ready to stand by Ukraine for the long term, even as US support is set to wane or possibly be halted altogether for the first time. "It is a demonstration of our resolute and lasting support for Ukraine, until it can win," she said in a press statement.
"It is also a message to Russia that it should not count on our fatigue. We will be there for a long time to come." Colonna said this at a moment the Kremlin is celebrating the clear 'war fatigue' out of Washington. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said from Moscow the same day that in the West, "Fatigue will lead to the fragmentation of the political establishment,"
Days ago, CNBC wrote that "Ukraine is trying to keep its international backers close as the spillover effects of the war with Russia — as well as the thorny issues of diplomatic gaffes, conflict fatigue and elections — threaten to upset its alliances and damage support for its cause."
"Opinion polls in both Europe and the U.S. carried out this summer show there has been an overall decline in support for measures backing Ukraine, particularly when it comes to additional funding and the supply of military equipment," the report underscored.
At Monday's Kiev gathering of EU foreign ministers, Germany's FM Annalena Baerbock said Europe must be ready to increase its support to protect the Ukrainian people ahead of the cold winter months. She called for a "winter protection plan"...
"Ukraine needs a winter protection plan of air defense, generators and a strengthening of the energy supply," she said in Kyiv, as quoted in AFP. "We saw last winter the brutal way in which the Russian president wages this war, with targeted attacks on critical infrastructure such as power plants."
“Regardless of what happens in the US, the EU will continue supporting and increasing its support for Ukraine”, says EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell. Unelected bureaucrat decides to drag millions of Europeans closer and closer to Armageddon. Just another day in the EU.
Notably absent from the EU meeting was Poland, Hungary, and Latvia. "The Polish and Latvian representatives were ill," a Ukrainian government official claimed.
'Ukraine Fatigue Will Grow': Kremlin Reacts To Congress Dropping Aid
TYLER DURDEN
Just as Congress over the weekend passed its short-term funding package which narrowly avoided a government shutdown by dropping assistance for Ukraine, President Biden has warned that time is running out on available aid. He told Congress to "stop playing games" with urgently needed funds and weapons.
"We cannot under any circumstances allow America’s support for Ukraine to be interrupted" the president had said, and added, "We have time, not much time, and there’s an overwhelming sense of urgency." Biden vowed he will "not walk away" from supporting Kiev. Just before those late Saturday remarks, CNN reported the following words of a top US defense official as follows:
A top official from the Pentagon told lawmakers on Friday the Department of Defense "has exhausted nearly all available security assistance funding for Ukraine," offering stark warnings about the battlefield effects of failing to pass new assistance.
The Kremlin on Monday reacted to the ongoing Washington fight over whether to fund the Ukrainians for next fiscal year, and amid the White House dire warnings that time is fast running out on approved aid.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Ukraine fatigue and war weariness on the part of the Western public "will grow" from here on out.
"Fatigue over this conflict — fatigue from the completely absurd sponsorship of the Kyiv regime — will grow in various countries, including the U.S.," he said, according to AFP. But he still acknowledged that Washington would nonetheless "continue its involvement in this conflict."
Peskov pointed to broader fragmentation and disunity as the war enters its 20th month. "Fatigue will lead to the fragmentation of the political establishment," he emphasized.
Last month, the biggest development related to this disunity was NATO/EU member Poland's declaration that it will not longer fund and supply new arms for Ukraine, saying it must focus on its own defense. Ukraine supporters now fear more in the Western alliance may peel off, given also they see the conflict as a losing cause.
US mainstream media also been increasingly open for the first time about the "fatigue" gripping the West. Days ago, CNBC wrote that "Ukraine is trying to keep its international backers close as the spillover effects of the war with Russia — as well as the thorny issues of diplomatic gaffes, conflict fatigue and elections — threaten to upset its alliances and damage support for its cause."
"Opinion polls in both Europe and the U.S. carried out this summer show there has been an overall decline in support for measures backing Ukraine, particularly when it comes to additional funding and the supply of military equipment," the report underscored.
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