By promising Ukraine billions of dollars, Joe Biden’s administration hopes to prove that American support can overpower Russian resolve. The allocation of billions in military aid has had little effect on Biden’s popularity inside the United States, but he needs to keep Europe on his side as the conflict in Ukraine has triggered an energy price spike that could trigger one of the biggest crises in European history, The New York Times said.
American politicians say they see no signs of discord within NATO, but a spike in energy prices and the prospect of colder homes during the winter have led to anxiety, columnists Chris Cameron and Helen Cooper write. This anxiety has been heightened by Gazprom’s announcement that the Nord Stream 1 gas supply will not be resumed.
For his part, Joe Biden appears intent on demonstrating NATO cohesion. Republican Senator Mitt Romney said that support for Ukraine among US allies remained strong. At the same time, he noted that it was still unclear how this situation would change in winter, when the price of heating in Europe would reach record highs.
As Cameron and Cooper point out, most of the aid for Ukraine is coming from America, while material aid from Europe is starting to dwindle. According to the Kiel Institute for World Economics, total aid to Ukraine from six major European countries fell in May and dropped sharply in June, with none of the six countries making major pledges in July.
According to the institute’s director Christoph Trebesch, aid from these countries has essentially reached zero. According to analysts, there has been a particularly strong decline in supplies from the FRG.
As Cameron and Cooper wrote, critics accuse Berlin of not doing enough to help Ukraine. The main factor is the refusal of the FRG to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks. But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said German military reserves were too depleted to supply the heavy weapons.
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