President Joe Biden’s State Department told Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) that Ukraine’s victory is “necessary” and Russian leader Vladimir Putin “cannot simply wait us out,” in a letter obtained exclusively by Breitbart News.
In May 2023, Davidson sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, demanding the Biden administration define its strategy regarding America’s seemingly endless support for Ukraine’s conflict with Russia.
Now that the State Department has waited nearly nine months, it said it “sincerely” regrets the delay in responding. The Biden admin told Davidson that the government wants “Ukraine’s victory” even though the Ukraine-Russia conflict is weeks away from its second anniversary and Ukraine’s vaunted summer counteroffensive failed:
Our goal is for Ukraine to emerge from this war as a democratic, independent, sovereign, and prosperous nation that can deter and defend itself against future aggression. When Ukraine achieves this objective, it will have won the war. Moreover, we want to integrate Ukraine into the community of democratic nations and have Ukraine contribute to transatlantic security going forward.
Russia’s victory in a war of imperial conquest would further embolden Russia militarily. An emboldened, aggressive Russia would continue to destabilize Europe and pose a greater threat to NATO and the United States. America’s other adversaries and competitors would take note as they calculate the costs and consequences of future acts of aggression. Ukraine’s victory is possible and necessary for the security of Europe, the United States, and the global rules-based order. [Emphasis added]
To achieve this daunting objective, the Biden State Department explained to Davidson that the administration would provide Ukraine with “advanced weaponry, munitions, training, and assistance.” The administration continued, saying that it has imposed “severe costs” on Russia through sanctions and diplomatic pressure.
The Biden administration wrote that Russian leader Vladimir Putin “cannot simply wait us out. We will not quit on our friends and nor tire of protecting our interests.”
Despite America and Europe’s aid to Ukraine, it appears that the Western military industrial base cannot keep up with the pace to fight Russia. As George Beebe and Anatol Lieven of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft noted, the U.S. and Europe cannot manufacture artillery shells quickly enough to meet Ukraine’s needs, and Russian long-air missile strikes are “increasingly overwhelming” the Ukrainian air defenses.
Davidson Feb Ukraine Letter by Breitbart News on Scribd
And although the Biden admin has said that it has imposed costs on the Russian economy, the New York Times reported that the Russian economy is increasingly structured around its war effort.
“While we support Ukraine, we are not a party to this conflict. We are not putting American troops in harm’s way, nor are our European allies,” the State Department said.
Lawmakers such as Davidson and others have long said that America is engaging in a proxy war against Russia.
In April 2022, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the United States wants the Russian military “weakened” from the Ukraine invasion. Further, Austin threatened reluctant lawmakers, saying that if they do not provide aid to Ukraine, it would “very likely” lead to U.S. troops fighting a war in Europe.
Further, the Biden administration has provided more munitions, fighter jets, tanks, and depleted uranium rounds, as Biden previously warned in 2022 that handing over such weapons would turn the conflict into “World War III.”
In a shocking claim to Breitbart News Politics Editor Emma-Jo Morris, the Ukrainian Embassy said that American aid to Ukraine aid to Ukraine benefits Americans. This aid has also continued despite rising concerns about Ukrainian corruption:
“American interests” in this context presumably means weapons manufacturers.
The Associated Press reported Sunday that employees from a Ukrainian arms firm “conspired with defense ministry officials to embezzle almost $40 million” allocated for weapons purchases.
The news comes months after the New York Times reported on the sacking of Ukraine’s minister of defense due to “graft” and “financial mismanagement” in the department, amid an avalanche of cash coming from the United States to fund the beleaguered war effort, and as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asks for more.
The Times report said some prepayments for weapons had “vanished” in the bank accounts of weapons dealers, among “about $980 million in weapons contracts” that “missed their delivery dates,” in 2023.
Although the Biden administration has signaled it would support Ukraine in perpetuity, American support for providing aid has waned since the start of the nearly two-year conflict. A December Pew Research poll found that a plurality of Americans, or 31 percent, believe that we sent too much aid to Ukraine. Nearly half, or 48 percent of Republicans or Republican-leaning independents, say the United States is giving too much aid.
This is a stark contrast from Pew’s March 2022 survey, which found that 42 percent of Americans believe that the United States was not sending enough aid, 32 percent said it was about right, and only seven percent said the country sends too much aid.
Davidson and other conservative lawmakers have long pushed for the administration to adopt a formal strategy on Ukraine.
The Heritage Foundation found that the United States’ current $113 billion in aid to Ukraine costs $900 per American household. https://t.co/2vSx0ExVAN
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 12, 2023
In September 2023, Davidson and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), along with nearly three dozen House Republicans, introduced the Define the Mission Act to have the Biden administration clarify its strategy to the American people.
“The Ukraine proxy war is the Washington war hawk regime’s latest obsession,” Davidson explained in a written statement at the time. “The Biden administration’s ‘as long as it takes’ approach is not a substitute for a clear strategy. It’s our responsibility to demand a defined mission on behalf of the American people and get concrete answers to avoid endless war.”
It appears that even establishment-minded lawmakers have backed Davidson and Lee’s idea, as the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024, which includes Ukraine aid and more legalized immigration in the guise of a “border” bill, would have the administration provide Congress with a strategy regarding America’s support for Ukraine.“Instead, we are strengthening Ukraine’s capacity, and weakening a key adversary, at costs far less than if the United States had direct involvement in the war,” the Biden State Department concluded in its letter to Davidson.
“As President Biden put it, “when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and destruction. They keep going, and the cost and the threats to America and to the world keep rising.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
