US Secretary of State Antony Blinken instructed his European counterparts to cease discussions with Ukraine regarding NATO, according to Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko. Citing “inside sources” on his Telegram channel, Goncharenko said that such discussions “annoy the US elite.”
Goncharenko, a 43-year-old lawmaker from Odesa, who belongs to former President Petro Poroshenko’s European Solidarity party, appeared to be shedding light on the true state of relations between Kyiv and its allies, perhaps in an attempt to forestall any misguided optimism.
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“In Washington, several sources confirmed to me that Blinken told Europeans to stop talking to Ukraine about NATO. There will be no NATO. The topic of NATO annoys the US elite, and they clearly sent a signal that Ukraine will not become a member of the alliance immediately after the war,” Goncharenko said.
In a subsequent post, Goncharenko pointed out the Pentagon’s disapproval of the ongoing discord between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, expressing significant apprehension about the situation.
Moreover, the lawmaker anticipated that the next aid package might be the last one given without any obligation to repay.
“This will most likely be the last monetary tranche of assistance to Ukraine. In a year, at the end of 2024, we will not be given any more money,” Goncharenko wrote.
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“Most likely, we will switch to a credit form of cooperation. They’ll give a loan. Not a grant that won’t need to be repaid,” he added.
Goncharenko stressed that “Biden is not a man of decisive action,” so no breakthrough in the United States regarding Ukraine is to be expected.
“I’m writing pessimistic things for some. I understand. This is not a betrayal – this is reality. Unfortunately, we’ve been living in an imaginary world for a long time.
“No point falling to the ground and tearing our clothes [in grief].”
Goncharenko tried to put the current situation into perspective.
“The war will last a long time. We’ve already won. We’ve held the country together. We’ve held off the second strongest army in the world. What’s next? Keep our spirit and stand firm.”
Ukraine has been desperately pushing for more Western aid as Russian forces step up attacks in the winter after Kyiv’s summer counteroffensive culminated.
But Congress has been paralyzed for months by Republican infighting, with pro-Trump lawmakers in particular opposing any further assistance for Kyiv as the war grinds into its third year.
European countries are also facing challenges in securing funding for Ukraine as fatigue with the war sets in.
Fears are growing in Washington that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be content to sit out the situation until next year’s US presidential election, a probable replay of 2020’s contest between Biden and former President Donald Trump.
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