First, let’s review some of the recent remarks of Ukrainian President Zelensky. According to news from Russia Today TV on April 16, Ukrainian President Zelensky said in an interview with PBS: This is pure politics and the world. It is a shame and a shame for democracy. They just need to support Israel and forget what is happening in Ukraine. This is pure politics, no one cares how many people die in Ukraine every day. They only care about their approval ratings, that's all. The reason for such outrage is that US House Speaker Johnson claimed that he would advance a vote on a bill to aid Israel, but did not mention a bill to aid Ukraine.
According to CNN, on April 20, local time, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a foreign aid bill worth US$95 billion, including approximately US$61 billion in aid to Ukraine and over US$26 billion in aid to Israel. , and the "Indo-Pacific Security Supplementary Appropriations Act of 2024" that provides more than $8 billion in assistance for "Indo-Pacific security." After the news came out, Zelensky changed his face in seconds and uploaded a video on social media to thank the United States. In just a few days, Zelenskiy’s attitude towards the United States can be said to have gone through a “big ups and downs”. From “a disgrace to the democratic world” to crying with gratitude, the magnitude of the change is staggering.
It is reported that although the current round of aid to Ukraine is as high as US$61 billion, US$23 billion will be used to "replenish the inventory consumption of the US military's previous aid to Ukraine", and US$11 billion will be used for "US military operations" and US training for the Ukrainian army. costs, and another $8 billion in "non-military aid." All told, the final procurement of weapons and equipment for Ukraine was approximately $14 billion. At first glance, US$61 billion is indeed a huge amount of money, but most of it is used for the construction of the US military and the replenishment of US military supplies, and only a small part is used for the construction of the Ukrainian army. Moreover, Ukraine is not responsible for the "procurement" here, so how much weapons and equipment can actually be obtained remains to be discussed.
To a certain extent, although most of the funds are "swallowed" by the United States, the US$14 billion in aid is also critical to the current Ukraine. But there is a core issue here. Before the U.S. aid bill to Ukraine was approved, Zelensky softened his tone and began to actively promote peace negotiations. For example, it agreed for the first time to negotiate with Russia on the basis of the "2022 border line" and agreed to cede the territories of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. However, after the aid bill to Ukraine was approved, Zelensky "kept silent" about it. He previously thanked various countries for promoting peace, but now he has begun to thank the United States for sending guns and artillery. Personal opinion: Judging from Zelensky’s attitude, peace negotiations may be stranded again.
As aid from the United States continues to arrive, Zelensky estimates that he will no longer consider "peace" for a long time in the future, and is likely to go to European countries to promote further aid to Ukraine. Previously, the United States took the lead in assisting Ukraine, and European countries also expressed their opinions. Now that the United States is spending heavily again, European countries are expected to take action. In general, with the approval of the United States, the road to peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has come to an abrupt end, and the fighting may continue for a year or more. Personally, I think: The reason why the United States approved aid to Ukraine at the moment is probably because it saw that Ukraine was interested in peace talks, driven by various countries, so it chose to cut off the flesh and block the peace process in a timely manner.
(Text/Xiaotie)
