'We Have Not Lost Focus', U.S. Warns Amid Extensive Russian Shelling On Ukraine

Washington D.C./02.11.23/Turan:    The United States said on Wednesday it has 'not lost focus in any sense' on the need to support Ukraine, after Ukraine reported the most extensive Russian shelling of the year during the past 24 hours, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"We will continue to stay focused on it.  We think we have the ability to work on more than one thing," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a daily briefing in response to TURAN's question whether Moscow was under the impression that other conflicts are diverting attention in the West.

"I won’t speak to what impression Moscow might be getting, but I can assure you that we are not. We have not lost focus in any sense on our need to support Ukraine," Miller said.

He went on to add, "You hear the Secretary often say, we have to walk and chew gum at the same time, and that is true with respect to both of these issues."

When asked by TURAN if the administration feared that Ukraine might become a victim of U.S. domestic politics amid debates among lawmakers over its funding, Miller pushed back saying that as a practical matter, should funding for Ukraine get an up or down vote, it will pass in both houses of Congress.

"We believe that support for Ukraine continues to be essential. It continues to be important that the United States be there to help Ukraine defend itself against these horrific attacks that Russia has launched on them and continues to launch on them," Miller added.

Still, the Republican-controlled U.S.House of Representatives is divided over a plan to split up aid to Israel and Ukraine; some proponents of both worry that it could leave Ukraine funding to fail.

On Wednesday night, the Democratic-led U.S. Senate passed a trio of government funding bills with broad bipartisan support, a move that some hope will pressure the Republican-controlled House leadership to change course from its partisan approach.

Alex Raufoglu