Trump's rival Lindsey Graham becomes his supporter: Bryza on US Senator's support for 'loan' for Ukraine

Espreso host Antin Borkovskyi talked to former US Assistant Secretary of State, former Director for European and Eurasian Affairs at the US National Security Council Matthew Bryza.

“Lindsey Graham has long supported assistance to Ukraine and its independence, as well as the restoration of its territorial integrity. However, as a politician, he has shifted from challenging Donald Trump in a previous election to becoming one of Trump's staunchest supporters. Graham recognizes that Trump prefers not simply granting aid to Ukraine but framing it as a loan. Trump has suggested, and Graham acknowledges, that this "loan" may never be repaid. The interest rate would likely be very low, akin to the assistance provided during World War II under the Lend-Lease Act, much of which was never reimbursed by recipient nations such as the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, and other allies,”  explains Bryza.

According to him, labeling the financial support to Ukraine as a 'loan' is a political tactic; however, it will supposedly function more like aid to appease a small faction of extreme Republicans in the House of Representatives, who obstruct voting by threatening to remove Speaker Mike Johnson from his position. Meanwhile, as stated by a former aide to the US Secretary of State, Johnson, fearing loss of his role, obstructs voting.

“For me, victory means, in my book, that Ukraine pushes all Russian forces out of Ukraine and fully restores its territorial integrity. But that's easy for me to say sitting in the comfort of my home in Istanbul. The leadership and the people of Ukraine have much more difficult trade-offs to weigh - life and destruction versus territory, and only the people of Ukraine and its elected leaders can decide what that trade-off should look like. I believe Ukraine should ask for assistance not only in the form of weapons but also in terms of financial support, allowing Ukraine to produce more and prepare for the long run to deter Russia in the future,” he summarized.

“We're not providing you the aid you need, and so Russia is able to hang on and maybe make a few advances. But as I said, I'm increasingly confident that Ukraine is going to get that aid, and it's important that Ukraine use it as wisely as possible,” said the former US Secretary of State.

Bryza shared that the US military, which is a supporter of Ukraine, said that our country had previously trained very inefficiently, firing too many rounds and shells during exercises, and that the aid should have been used more sparingly. In addition, there were concerns that some of the money received was misused, for example, to buy expensive cars by Ukrainian officials who had access to finance.

The vote is expected to take place in the near future.

• On March 18, Lindsey Graham arrived in the capital of Ukraine. He stated that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, is now looking for a way to move forward with assistance to Ukraine. The senator also met with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to discuss US assistance in implementing reforms. And during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, they discussed providing Ukraine with air defense systems and missiles.