European lawmakers send plea to US Congress on aid to Ukraine

(Patria) - More than a hundred senior European lawmakers will send a joint letter to their colleagues in the United States today, calling on Congress to enable further military aid to Ukraine.

The open letter, seen by Reuters, was signed by lawmakers from at least 17 countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Ireland, and is a sign of growing concern in Europe about the continuity of American support for Ukraine.

This comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy heads to Washington to seek aid, ahead of a short deadline for Congress, which is due to go on its year-end break from Friday.

“We hear the concerns that our American friends have expressed. For years, American leaders, Democrats and Republicans alike, have asked Europeans to take greater responsibility for their own security.

We agree with this legitimate request,” the lawmakers, led by Benjamin Haddad, a French lawmaker in President Emmanuel Macron’s party, said in the letter.

The European lawmakers, including Germany’s Michael Roth, chairman of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, as well as Giulio Tremonti, his Italian counterpart, said Europeans had contributed as much as the US to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.

“Moreover, military spending has increased across Europe,” they said.

“American military aid, however, is critical and urgent,” they added.

The next round of aid to Ukraine has been stalled by a demand from House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans that no more funds be sent unless steps are first taken to strengthen the US border with Mexico.

President Joe Biden has urged Congress to act by the end of the year, and Democrats in Congress have been trying to get approval for about $50 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine.

“A victory for Putin would embolden our enemies around the world. They are watching and hoping that we will tire. The Ukrainians are fighting so that we do not have to,” the European lawmakers said.