U.S. Pledges More Aid to Ukraine, Discusses 'Narrow Range of Issues' With Russia

Top U.S. Senators on Wednesday made it clear that they expect strong backing for the Ukraine support bill that the House approved earlier.

"A big vote over here” for the bill, Senate's number 2 republican leader John Thune said. The $ 40 billion assistance bill might come to the Senate floor either today, or early next week, TURAN's correspondent reports.

The move comes as the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Wednesday met with his UK counterpart Ben Wallace at the Pentagon to discuss further military aid for Ukraine, among other issues.

"Russia's invasion has entered a different phase that is no less dangerous," Austin said. "But we will continue to work together with unity and resolve to rush Ukraine what it needs to defend itself now, and in future."

The British minister noted that the U.S. has been supplying Ukraine with training assistance and materials since Russia invaded the first time in 2014 when Putin illegally annexed Crimea and incited violence in the eastern provinces of Ukraine. "Because of that, Ukraine is stronger today and able to hold out in defense against a very aggressive foe," Wallace said. 

Speaking to a group of Washington-based reporters, Wallace said, "our aim here is for Putin to fail in Ukraine”  The Russian leader has “got to reconcile that in the long run, he's lost,” he added. "Whatever happens in Ukraine, let's consider that Russia is a lesser country now than it was before this invasion.”

Back in Moscow, the U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan on Wednesday met with Russian government officials, State Department spokesperson Ned Price confirmed to TURAN's Washington correspondent during the Department's daily press briefing.

The spokesman said the meeting was pre-scheduled and was set up to “discuss a narrow set of bilateral issues.”

"Ambassador Sullivan is discussing issues in the bilateral relationship with his Russian counterparts. Those tend to be quite narrow. In many cases, those tend to be centered on the functioning of our embassy, which of course is a concern to us given the limitations – the undue limitations that the Russian Government has imposed on the operations of our embassy in Moscow."

Price declined to elaborate on Sullivan’s discussions.

"We do maintain diplomatic communications with the Russian Federation through our Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and through our embassy in Moscow. There is no doubt that it is a difficult relationship; that is clear to everyone. But we do believe that these lines of communication should remain open."

In the meantime, he added, "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine - that absolutely is our policy."

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.