Poland warns US House speaker: You’re to blame if Russia advances in Ukraine
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Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski urged US House Speaker Mike Johnson to allow a vote on new US aid for Ukraine.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on Feb 26 urged US House Speaker Mike Johnson to allow a vote on new US aid for Ukraine, saying Mr Johnson would be to blame if the Bill failed and Russia advances on the battlefield.
The senior European diplomat’s blunt remarks underscored European fears that conservative House Republicans led by Mr Johnson will block supplies of US munitions that Ukraine urgently needs to hold Russian troops at bay.
Ukraine is running short of personnel and ammunition, especially heavy artillery rounds, and has lost ground in the east after retaking about half of the territory Russia seized in its full-scale invasion in February 2022
In remarks to the Atlantic Council think-tank, Mr Sikorski said Mr Johnson “has in the past spoken warmly about Ukraine”.
“Therefore, I’d like him to know that the whole world is watching what he would do, and if the supplemental (Bill) were not to pass and Ukraine was to suffer reversals on the battlefield it will be his responsibility,” he continued.
He was referring to a US$95 billion (S$127.7 billion) funding Bill containing US$60 billion in security aid for Ukraine that passed the Democratic-controlled Senate in February in a 70-30 bipartisan vote.
Mr Johnson’s office did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The Speaker, an ally of former US president Donald Trump, the expected Republican nominee in the November election who opposes more aid for Ukraine, sent the House home on a two-week recess without bringing the measure to a vote.
He told a Feb 14 party meeting that they would not rubber-stamp the measure being pushed by President Joe Biden, who is expected to face Trump as the Democratic nominee.
Mr Sikorski said he was appealing “personally to Speaker Mike Johnson: Please let democracy take its course. Please let’s pass this to a vote”.
As Speaker, Mr Johnson decides what Bills are put up for votes. Some Republicans who favour the aid say the measure would pass the House if he allowed a vote.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “murderous invasion of Ukraine is being aided and abetted by a crime family of dictators”, said Mr Sikorski, referring to military aid that Iran and North Korea are providing to Moscow.
Mr Putin’s victory in Ukraine, he said, would “invite more thugs onto the world scene, and this will have dire consequences”. REUTERS
