Republican bargaining on US aid to Ukraine may last until mid-December - diplomat Chaly

The former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the US said this on Espreso. 

"A lot of Republican voters say that we need to address domestic issues, such as border security, first. But when politicians take advantage of this and put the interdependence of US national interests in the package, it really weakens their position. This bidding will go on until the day the budget is adopted, I think, somewhere around December 15, and even if there is no financial decision on aid, I don't see an absolute disaster here either. If we see a vote on the US budget before December 15, then everything will be unlocked, because the NDAA is USD 50 billion for the military budget, there are other programs, and then the White House will have a lot of other arguments and other programs, including the landlord," the diplomat said.

Chaly emphasized that the US could use other mechanisms to support Ukraine.

"At the same time, Joseph Biden wants to push politically, because there is a struggle about elections not only for the presidency, but also for Congress, Senate, and governors, which means it is about political internal processes in the United States. I can't say that Republican senators are against helping Ukraine, but they are politicians first and foremost. My opinion is that there is a struggle for whether their representative will run in a more favorable position in the elections," he summarized.