U.S. House approves Ukraine military aid, White House threatens veto

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill on May 15 that earmarks USD 300 mln in military aid to Ukraine, including lethal weapons, as part of an outlined military strategy for 2016. The same bill allocates USD 600 mln to train and equip Syrian rebels. The prior day, the U.S. Senate Armed Forces Committee approved a version of the 2016 military budget that earmarks USD 300 mln for Ukraine’s Armed Forces.  The White House intends to veto legislation offering military aid to Ukraine, reported thehill.com. The U.S. Senate is currently working on a revised draft of the military budget, the report said.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland visited Kyiv on May 14-16 and will be in Moscow on May 17 and 18, the U.S. State Department reported. So far, Nuland hasn’t mentioned any progress in resolving the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The main message of her visit to Kyiv is that the U.S. will deepen its involvement to ensure that all points of the Minsk cease-fire accords are fulfilled, she told reporters on May 16. The U.S. continues to demand a full cease-fire along the conflict line, she said, and heavy artillery must be removed in such a way that still enables Ukraine to defend the strategic port city of Mariupol.

Zenon Zawada: The U.S. has been reaching agreements with Ukrainian and Russian leaders that haven’t been publicized, which is why we believe there hasn’t been a Russian-backed offensive since the assault on Debaltseve in mid-February. That’s also the reason why the U.S. has not provided arms to the Ukrainian government to defend Mariupol. The agreements could be publicized once they’ve shown to be upheld by both sides.

The White House refusal to provide arms to Ukraine, particularly in defending Mariupol, will prove to be legitimate if it manages prevent a Russian-backed offensive by diplomatic means. However, given that sanctions are meant to force Russia out of Crimea, the threat of an expanded Russian-backed offensive will remain in place for as long as the sanctions are active. A Russian withdrawal from Crimea is out of the question for President Putin, while a frozen conflict will prove too costly in the long term.