Republicans criticize Biden for insufficient aid to Ukraine and develop "Victory Plan for Ukraine"
This was reported by Ukrinform, Censor.NET informs.
It is noted that the "Proposed Plan for Victory in Ukraine" signed by the chairmen of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, the Armed Services Committee, Mike Rogers, and the Intelligence Committee, Mike Turner, was developed at the end of last year, but it is only now that it has become the subject of discussion in the expert community. The PDF document contains a cover with a collective photo of modern dictators: Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Ali Khamenei and Alexander Lukashenko.
The explanation to the plan states that it "aims to answer critical questions about the support for Ukraine by the United States and its allies and present a plan for victory in which we win and Russia loses".
The published document consists of five sections: "The Threat", "The Proposed Plan for Victory", "Surveillance", "Distribution of Support" and "Timeline of Biden's Deadly Delays in Providing Arms to Ukraine".
Russia and an alliance consisting of China, Iran and its proxies (such as Hamas and Hezbollah), and North Korea are working together to undermine American interests around the world, the document says. "Their goal is to weaken the U.S. economy, break up key alliances, and establish a new world order of totalitarianism," the plan's authors say. "The United States has not faced a more dangerous set of adversaries since World War II.
The committee chairs note that the US Congress has a responsibility to protect freedom from countries such as Russia, China and Iran: "Many people have asked why we should support Ukraine, and the report not only answers those questions, it also provides information... for our constituents on why our support is necessary."
"Biden's mantra of supporting Ukraine 'as long as it takes' is a losing strategy," they said.
Instead, House Republicans are convinced that President Biden must present a credible plan for victory and provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs to win as soon as possible.
According to the authors of the document, from the first day of the war, "Biden's exhausting hesitation to provide Ukraine with critical weapons has delayed Ukraine's victory." Ukraine needs the longest-range version of ATACMS (not 160, but 300 km), F-16 aircraft, as well as sufficient cluster munitions, artillery, air defence and armoured vehicles to change the situation on the battlefield. This delay is costing the lives of Ukrainians and American taxpayers, the chairmen of the three committees emphasise.
They point out that the path to victory for Ukraine will require, first, the rapid provision of critical weapons; second, the strengthening of sanctions against the Putin regime; and third, the transfer of 300 billion of frozen Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine.
Congressmen emphasise the need to control US aid, acknowledging that numerous inspections have so far failed to reveal any significant irregularities.
In their view, Ukraine's victory "would prevent a Russian invasion of a NATO country, which would be immeasurably more costly in terms of American blood and money".
It is also noted that as a percentage of GDP, the United States ranks only 30th in terms of aid to Ukraine. Poland, the Baltic States, the United Kingdom, Norway and other countries make much larger contributions. In terms of military aid, the United States ranks 14th, lagging behind Europe, the congressmen said.
The US support for Ukraine is not charity, they point out in their explanatory note.
"In the wake of President Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, Ukraine's support in the fight against Putin's forces is crucial to restoring American deterrence in Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific," the chairmen of key House committees emphasise.
The proposed document "will provide Ukraine with the opportunity to achieve the necessary successes on the battlefield to force Putin to the negotiating table," they conclude, demanding that Biden present his vision of a victory plan.
