By Quincy Carter ’26
The US is continuously making efforts in helping Ukraine against Russia by giving Ukraine the resources they need to defend their homeland. Ever since the Ukrainian war began, NATO, (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), mainly the US, has been trying to assist Ukraine in order to defeat their enemy, Russia. By helping Ukraine with military supplies, cash, machinery, and even training the Ukrainian soldiers, the US is potentially at risk of becoming enemies with Russia because of all the assistance the US is giving to Ukraine. This can risk our own country’s defense security. Furthermore, if Ukraine loses, our money and resources would be for nothing. This makes me think that the US should not continue to fund as much aid to Ukraine in their war against Russia. The amount of funding we put into Ukraine’s resources can affect the US and its citizens itself and possibly put the US in trouble financially and security-wise. Ukraine has been supported with a lot of money from many NATO countries including the US. This also includes our resources and equipment we have going towards Ukraine’s war. It has been said that “The U.S. has sent Ukraine approximately $113 billion in a combination of cash, military supplies and machinery, as well as food and other humanitarian supplies” (Tatsiana). This is a lot of money that the US is lending to Ukraine to make sure Ukraine can stay in this fight. This funding that kept Ukraine in the fight was said to also be a statement pointed towards Russia about what strength we really have (Tatsiana). Though the US is helping Ukraine a lot, this could start to create risk for our country itself. With this cash and supplies that are being given over, this could possibly put the US in a bad/worse financial situation. It has been said that “Congressional funding to buy weapons to replace the ones the U.S. sends to Ukraine is now down to about $1 billion. That dwindling money means the military services are worried they won’t be able to buy all the weapons they need to ensure the U.S. military is ready to defend the American homeland” (Tatsiana). This will put our country at risk of being attacked and not being able to defend ourselves. They are mostly putting Ukraine before our own country which will result in effects like this happening. Ukraine losing this war against Russia will make all the money, weapons, and resources we put into nothing and will be a terrible loss for us. Not only is this a frustration on the US itself, it is also a frustration on the citizens of the US also. As citizens of the US, people would like to see things helpful for our country that will make our lives better. Citizens are angered that all this work is being put into Ukraine and defending them against Russia and not worrying about the things going on in the US. It says in “AP News”, “Others – hard-right Republicans – wanted a bill that prioritized what they said are American interests, meaning more of a focus on domestic U.S. problems.” This gives a good example of what people in the US want that will better our country. The US doesn’t put much focus on its own problems, but instead other countries’ problems that build up funding unnecessary amounts of money. Though people think this is the US ignoring their citizens’ request in making the country better, there are other reasons behind why funding and supporting Ukraine like we are now will help us. There are big reasons why this funding needs to go into Ukraine at all cost. Our donations of money and resources is keeping Ukraine in the fight longer than what would’ve happened if we didn’t support them with the things we had. It was also said that this would actually benefit America’s defense systems against countries (Harrison). This is very false as “Crisis Group” says, “That’s the only thing that’s sustaining them,” he said, adding that the amount of aid Ukraine is currently receiving, primarily from other NATO members in Europe, is not enough to win the war against Russia, but simply to stay in the fight.” At the moment, Ukraine is only in the fight for so long, but not making any strength or stretches to defeat or put down Russia. If anything, Ukraine is losing a lot of soldiers which now – they are starting to fall into a situation where they cannot continue to fight no longer. And to add on with the security of the US, it was already said to “put us in danger” because of the machinery, and military weapons that we are lending to Ukraine. The US uses all the resources and money they have to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia, trying to not let Russia have its way. With this, the defects of what could happen to our country comes into play which worries people. The US should – instead of lending hundreds of billions of dollars and giving away our military weapons, leaving our country with less of a defense system – supply them with a little less than what we are giving them. There are also other NATO countries who could support more money towards this war.
Works Cited
BALDOR, C. “Russia-Ukraine war: How the US keeps funding Ukraine’s military.” AP News, 15 December 2023, https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-funding-weapons-2153375d4394d5783fad73858b51e993. Accessed 16 May 2024.
“Behind the Debate over U.S. Military Aid to Ukraine.” Crisis Group, 23 February 2024, https://www.crisisgroup.org/united-states/behind-debate-over-us-military-aid-ukraine. Accessed 17 May 2024.
Garamone, Jim. “DOD Official Restates Why Supporting Ukraine Is in U.S. Interest.” Department of Defense, 9 February 2024, https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3671938/dod-official-restates-why-supporting-ukraine-is-in-us-interest/. Accessed 17 May 2024.
“The Importance of U.S. Assistance to Ukraine – USGLC.” U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, https://www.usglc.org/the-importance-of-u-s-assistance-to-ukraine/. Accessed 17 May 2024.
Kulakevich, Tatsiana. “Senate approves nearly $61B of Ukraine foreign aid − here’s why it helps the US to keep funding Ukraine.” The Conversation, 24 April 2024, https://theconversation.com/senate-approves-nearly-61b-of-ukraine-foreign-aid-heres-why-it-helps-the-us-to-keep-funding-ukraine-228344. Accessed 16 May 2024.
Ott, Haley. “Why Ukraine needs U.S. funding, and why NATO says that funding is an investment in U.S. security.” CBS News, 15 February 2024, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-us-funding-nato-says-investment-in-us-security/. Accessed 16 May 2024.
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