Military aid ensures the defense of Ukraine and Europe

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) and his committee passed bipartisan legislation, the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act (Repo Act), by a vote of 40-2, that would do just that.

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, better known as the Helsinki Commission, held hearings in support of the bipartisan Senate companion bill.

Russian President Vladimir Putin must pay for Russia’s wrongful acts against Ukraine under international law, norms and precedents. There is still time for Congress to pass this critical, bipartisan legislation.

Finally, there also is a larger geopolitical need to demonstrate U.S. leadership now, while still acting in concert with our European and other allies. Though there are at least an estimated $5 billion in Russian central bank reserves here, a total of $280 billion could be unleashed globally to aid Ukraine if all nations act together. Authoritarian regimes need to understand there will be severe financial penalties for violations of international protections of sovereignty and territory.

Greg Wilson, Estero, Fla.

Cutting aid to Ukraine will have catastrophic consequences for world peace and for the United States.

Surprisingly, the debate in Congress over $61 billion for Ukraine has nothing to do with taxpayer money. It’s about political posturing. The finger-pointing goes to a few members of Congress on the extreme right who are leading others for the benefit of Russia.

These Putin apologists are nefariously interested in their own self-serving obsession with power. Both they and Russia know the influence of extremists gets exponentially amplified during wartime. Truth is being drowned out by continuous pro-Kremlin propaganda that Ukraine funding will bankrupt the United States, that Ukraine is full of Nazis or that Ukraine is losing.

In truth, Ukraine funding is comparatively nothing. The Defense Department reports $44 billion has been spent for Ukraine security aid since February 2022. The abrupt withdrawal of funding would result in a Russian victory. Imagine the outrage from shocking images of abandoned U.S. military equipment and millions of terrified refugees escaping from Russian soldiers.

Ukraine military aid ensures the defense of Ukraine and Europe. Ukrainian soldiers are fighting NATO’s war, so that untold thousands of Americans aren’t fighting and dying. Isn’t it worth spending the equivalent of a half cup of coffee per week per person to prevent thousands of American soldiers from dying?

The catastrophic withdrawal from Ukraine would tarnish the United States and the GOP forever.

David Root, Damascus, Md.

The writer is a member of U.S. Ukrainian Activists.