Following a phone discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, President Joe Biden has announced another $800 million in military aid.

The current weapons delivery, according to Biden, will include a mix of weaponry already in the conflict as well as “new capabilities tailored to the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine.”

“These new capabilities include artillery systems, artillery rounds, and armored personnel carriers. I have also approved the transfer of additional helicopters. In addition, we continue to facilitate the transfer of significant capabilities from our allies and partners around the world,” Biden said.

Following weeks of stalled ground advances on Kyiv, the current security package, the seventh of its kind, comes on the heels of recent US intelligence assessments that the Kremlin will soon focus its military force in eastern and southern Ukraine.

But how long will the US or Biden administration continue to support Ukraine?

Ukraine appears to be out of time…

Incident 1: US and EU no more share common ground on this war

Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally party in France, thinks that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky asks for more than the West can provide.

“Zelensky wants more support. Sometimes he asks for more than it is possible to give,” said Le Pen during an interview with the France 2 TV channel.

Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed disagreement with US Vice President Joe Biden, who described the situation in Ukraine as “genocide.”

“Careful use of terms,” the French president said.

At the same time, Le Pen stated that she does not believe that isolating Russia on the international stage is possible.

“This is a great world power,” the leader said, noting that she supports the resumption of NATO-Russian relations after the end of the Ukrainian conflict.

“I think the West will have a lot to lose if, in the long run, Russia chooses to cooperate with China,” the presidential candidate highlighted.

If elected, she stated that her foreign policy would be guided by the values of “independence, equidistance, and permanence.”

Incident 2: The main adversary is China, not Russia for the US

CIA Director William Burns said on Thursday that there were four main challenges that will shape the future world order, noting that China was the only and main geopolitical challenge for the United States in the current century.

Four large-scale challenges will shape our future and future world order. The first is the immediate threat posed by renewed Russian aggression against Ukraine. The second is a longer-term problem posed by China’s leadership ambitions. 

“In my opinion, it is the only and most important geopolitical challenge in the 21st century, “Burns said.

Two other important challenges, according to the CIA director, are the large-scale impact of technological change and the formation of a workforce based on the diversity of American society.

Incident 3: World order is changing

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Thursday that the US administration will not return assets frozen as a result of Western sanctions “but I’ll be careful in what I say today because there’s an ongoing kind of policy process around how we end up dealing with that question.”

According to the CIA director, China’s ambitions under its leader Xi Jinping are “quite threatening,” and include the possibility that Beijing would seek control over Taiwan by military means.

“The further out we get in this decade, the greater that risk becomes,” he said.

Image Credit: Getty

You were reading: Global Questions: How long will the US keep its promise to arm Ukraine?