The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) editorial board tore into Republicans Thursday for “sneering” at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky spoke before a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday following a visit to the White House. Zelensky called U.S. aid “an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”
Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley skipped Zelensky’s address to Congress, saying he “didn’t want to be part of the photo-op asking for more money from the United States government when they haven’t given us a single piece of accounting on anything they spent.”
House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy said he didn’t support a “blank check” for Ukraine.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky gives a Ukrainian national flag to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as US Vice President Kamala Harris (L) looks on during his address the US Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on December 21, 2022. – (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The editorial board, however, said that while the U.S. is giving billions to Ukraine, there is other money “flowing to core American priorities: almost $12 billion in the latest round is for replanting U.S. weapons stocks, and nearly $7 billion for U.S. troops in Europe.”
The WSJ then defended sending more money to Ukraine because there are “audits.”
“But war is destructive and some waste is inevitable,” the WSJ wrote. “One concern has been keeping the best U.S. weapons out of Russian hands, and the Ukrainians have so far been judicious users of the equipment. The humanitarian and economic assistance will certainly feature some lost or misused money, as all U.S. aid programs do.”
The WSJ said the benefits outweigh the costs.
“Many of the same Republicans sneering at Mr. Zelensky will claim the U.S. needs to abandon Ukraine to focus on China,” the WSJ editorial board wrote. “But Beijing and Moscow are working together to undermine the West. The best step the U.S. could take to deter another assault like Mr. Putin’s is delivering to Ukraine more of the best long-range weapons, aircraft, missiles, tanks and other tools it needs to defeat the invasion.”
Russia invaded Ukraine in February, with the U.S. having already sent at least $52 billion in aid while an additional $45 billion is set to head to Ukraine.