IMPACT
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a major threat to the stability of Europe and the free world. The authors explain why the state of the Ukrainian military at the point of invasion in 2022 necessitated substantial international military and economic assistance. The USA has been the largest contributor, providing almost US$175 billion in defence of Ukraine between March 2022 and April 2024. While the USA provided almost two-thirds of this assistance early in the conflict, political disagreements in the USA stalled additional aid for almost two years. After a six-month hiatus, the Congress approved additional funding for Ukraine on 20 April 2024 at the total amount of $65 billion (H.R. 8035, 2024). The aid that has been provided combines military, economic and humanitarian assistance. Potential future political disagreements in the USA make prospects for further aid uncertain due to opposing views on Ukraine aid by the two US presidential candidates before the November 2024 election. For practitioners, this study reviews the federal budget process in the times of extreme geopolitical uncertainty, analyses the role of US–Ukraine military and humanitarian assistance aimed at holding Ukraine’s front and securing European capacity for self-defence.
ABSTRACT
A destabilizing incursion of one nation into another, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens the sovereignty of Ukraine and raises the spectre of colonial expansion of Russia further into Eastern Europe. The Ukrainian military lacked sufficient defence capacity largely because of actions (supported by the West) to disarm the USSR at the end of the Cold War. Substantial assistance, in the form of military, economic and humanitarian aid, has been provided since the invasion. The USA has been the largest contributor, providing almost US$175 billion in defence of Ukraine between March of 2022 and April of 2024. This aid has been provided in the context of an increasingly polarized political environment in the US. This article documents the context for this additional assistance, including the reasons for the Russian invasion, the state of the Ukrainian military prior to the invasion, the amount and timing of US assistance and the key questions that will need to be addressed going forward. It contributes to the literature by describing pre-war dynamics in the US–Ukraine relations and explaining why federal assistance to Ukraine today is the best long-term geopolitical strategy for the USA.