U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged additional financial support to Ukraine for the ongoing military conflict against Russia. This involves $60 million in new military equipment to fight the Moscow-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine.
However, Washington has given Ukrainian President Zelensky no prospect of possible NATO membership.
Since 2014, the United States has already committed 2.1 billion euros in aid to Ukraine. This year alone, the total has reached 334 million, according to a joint statement.
The armed conflict in the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region has now been ‘frozen’ for more than six years. About 14,000 people have already lost their lives, and each year reintegration becomes increasingly difficult as the separatist authorities and their Russian supporters entrench themselves deeper in the region.
Closely linked to this security situation is Kiev’s longstanding pursuit of NATO membership. This would be the final piece of the puzzle that ‘protects’ the country against further Russian aggression. The complete lack of progress over the past seven years, however, has led to frustration in Ukraine, which sees itself as Europe’s first line of defense against Russia.
NATO included Ukraine last year on the list of six ‘Enhanced Opportunities Partners,’ but Zelensky considers this far from sufficient to secure his country’s sovereignty.
Additionally, Biden has made it clear to Zelensky that Washington no longer opposes the construction of Nord Stream 2, the new Russian northern gas and oil pipeline to Western Europe.
The implicit approval of the project has been received with discontent in Ukraine. Their concern is based on the fact that Russia could bypass Ukraine in delivering supplies to the lucrative European market. Until now, this has gone through the southern Russian pipelines via Ukraine, for which Moscow pays Kiev billions in fees annually. Moreover, Kiev can ‘threaten’ to cut off those supplies.
Biden and departing German Chancellor Angela Merkel have already developed a “deal” that would make it possible to impose new sanctions on Russia if Moscow ‘arms’ the pipeline against Ukraine.
Ukraine’s attempts to join NATO and the European Union have regularly failed due to concerns over rampant corruption within the country. Without substantial reforms and a tough approach to corruption in Ukrainian politics, Ukraine’s ambitions for full integration with Western Europe will likely come to little.