Top Senate Democrat has raised concern that U.S. troops could find themselves “in harm’s way” if Congress doesn’t approve an additional $61 billion in support for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, reiterated calls for the House of Representatives to pass a new tranche of U.S. funding for Ukraine’s war effort during press remarks on Thursday. This time, the Virginia Democrat warned that America’s men and women in uniform could be thrown into a more direct conflict with Russia if the United States doesn’t instead spend more money to bolster Ukraine’s war effort.
“I can’t think of an issue that is of more historic proportions than supporting the Ukrainians at this moment,” Mr. Warner told Bloomberg News on Thursday.
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The United States has already provided about $113 billion in Ukraine-related aid since the full-scale conflict began in February 2022. This U.S. funding has since run dry.
This February, the Senate approved a $95 billion supplemental spending bill that includes about $61 billion in new Ukraine-related aid, in addition to several billion more for other global security partnerships and projects. While the bill passed the Senate, it has seen no additional progress in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have repeatedly demanded House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) advance the bill, as have some Republicans.
Mr. Warner argued that if Ukraine doesn’t get enough support and is eventually defeated, Russian President Vladimir Putin could then set his sights on conquering Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, all of which are formal allies of the United States through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
