Scrambling to avoid a government shutdown, the US Congress last week refused to approve a new $6bn aid package for Ukraine. Nearly half of the Republicans in the House of Representatives also voted to strip Ukraine money from a must-pass military spending bill. The Republican revolt comes as Ukraine’s counteroffensive, launched this summer, has garnered lackluster results. Russia has actually gained more territory in this calendar year than Ukraine has, despite the immense quantity of advanced weaponry that the US and Europe have supplied to Ukrainian forces.
Together, these two developments mark a new phase of the war that calls for new thinking. The political support of Ukraine’s largest international backer, the US, is no longer assured in the near term, let alone if Donald Trump returns to power in next year’s election.
