Focus on Russo-Ukrainian War
Let's take a break from the crisis in the Middle East.
Most of my articles so far have been focussed on the crisis in the Middle East. However, this time I would like to take a break from it and focus on the Russo-Ukrainian war instead, taking advantage from the latest developments.
As I mentioned at the end of my previous post, linked below in case you missed it, the US House few days ago passed a long-awaited $95 billion Aid Package for Ukraine, Israel And Taiwan. The Senate will consider it tomorrow, Tuesday 23rd April 2024, but most likely it will be approved, since the Democrats hold the majority there.
Simplicius The Thinker analyzed this aid bill in an article (linked below) that he posted before the Aid Package was approved by the US House. It is an interesting post that I invite you to read (beware: it is a long read!).
In it Simplicius says that what is “really left for Ukrainian ‘weapons’ [from the original $48B of aid to Ukraine] is about $14B or less”. Let’s verify it.
First of all, the aid bill approved by the US House now includes $60.84B in support of Ukraine. It seems a lot, but actually Kiev will only receive ~$8B in cash. These funds are intended to cover the budget deficit and cannot be spent on either military operations or pensions. Moreover it is issued in the form of a loan.
$23.2B will go to replenish the arsenals of the US military.
Another $13.8B is earmarked for Ukraine for military assistance (what Simplicius mentioned in his article), but it is not Kiev that will receive it, but the arms manufacturers. Kiev will receive the weapons.
Washington will spend another $11.3B on the ongoing activities of the US military in Eastern Europe.
Thus, the US will spend most of this money on itself, recording it as earmarked for Ukraine. And sooner or later they will ask to return it in one form or another.
This aid package had been blocked by Republicans and the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, for 6 months. As I commented in Simplicius’s post, the fact that both US aid and Ukrainian mobilization bill were approved almost simultaneously makes me think that this is not a coincidence. First of all, the Republicans were asking for legislation to stop illegal immigrants crossing the US border with Mexico, but this has not been discussed yet at the US house. So, what happened? Most likely there has been some arm wrestling between the Outlaw US Empire and Ukraine, something like this:
US would provide additional aid to Ukraine only if the latter sends more men to the frontline (a.k.a. the meatgrinder) and until death (i.e. without the demobilization after 36 months); fearing for his life (some Ukronazis have already said that they are not happy about the new law! - see 3rd video in Simplicius’s article), Zelensky tried to resist, but in the end he had to give up, maybe with some reassurances from the US that they would not allow anyone to touch/kill him. Also, I think that what's happened recently in the Middle East (i.e. escalations between Israel and Iran) made some people in the Congress and the Speaker realize that, if they do not release aid to Ukraine and Israel, it will be the end of the Outlaw US Empire! But this will happen anyway. Why? Let me explain…
As Andrei Martyanov mentioned in this post in his blog, citing this article by NBC News, the US House also approved the so-called…
REPO Act, which would allow the Biden administration to confiscate billions of dollars’ worth of Russian assets sitting in U.S. banks and transfer them to Ukraine for reconstruction.
However, the Outlaw US Empire may not realize that, if they take this step, it will accelerate the de-dollarization, as Andrei Martyanov points out.
I also read somewhere (but unfortunately I cannot find the source!) that this may be an American trick to push the EU to introduce a similar bill, which would cause much more damage to Europe than the Outlaw US Empire, because the former has invested much more in Russia than the latter!
I will conclude my article today with Maria Zakharova’s post (in Russian) on her Telegram channel in response to the Aid Package approved by the US House:
The allocation of United States military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan will exacerbate global crises: military aid to the Kyiv regime is a direct sponsorship of terrorist activities, to Taiwan - interference in China's internal affairs, to Israel - a direct road to escalation of unprecedented aggravation in the region.
Thanks for the update, Ismaele.