A weapons plan for Kiev was drafted by US Senators weeks before Russia entered Ukraine.
Plan to send weapons from the USA to Ukraine using “lend-lease”This week, Congress approved the formula that was used during WWII to circumvent neutrality laws. However, it was put together all the way back in January – more than a month before Moscow recognized the Donbass republics as independent and sent troops into Ukraine.
John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, introduced the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act (also known as S.3522) on January 19, 2022. The official Congress.gov webpage for this bill states that it is. The bill was also sponsored by Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Roger Wicker (R–Mississippi) on that date.
It was supported by Richard Blumenthal (D.Connecticut), and Lindsey Graham(R-South Carolina) the next day on January 20. The following week saw other endorsements, and there were 14 senators who had signed on by the end of February (9th according to Congress.gov).
Russia refused to recognize Donetsk’s independence from Lugansk, until February 21. This is the “special military operation”The demilitarization of Ukraine started on February 24, in Washington.
Oddly enough, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee only took up Cornyn’s proposal on April 6. It was approved unanimously, proposed on the floor by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and adopted by voice vote – whereupon it sat in limbo for weeks while the Democrat-dominated House was on vacation. After an hour-long pro-forma discussion, it was approved by the House in a 417-10 vote. All ten dissenters, however, were Republicans.
The proposal has been praised by both supporters and critics. In March 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created lend-lease to ship weapons worth billions to Britain and the Soviet Union. This was months before America entered WWII.
Cornyn’s bill, by contrast, suspends two existing US laws to make it easier for the White House to ship all sorts of weapons to Ukraine. It eliminates the five-year limitation on the program duration, suggesting the US hopes the conflict goes on for a long time – but also conditions the aid on Ukraine eventually repaying the “lease”Return the gear in its original condition if it is not working.
Cornyn has not yet revealed the motivation for his introduction of this scheme. “protect civilian populations in Ukraine from Russian military invasion”Before military operations started.
Cardin’s motivations are clearer. His anti-Russian legislations include the 2012 Magnitsky Act (the 2016 Global Magnitsky Act) and 2017 CAATSA, which tie the hands of Trump in his dealings with Russia.
The height of the 2018 Winter Olympics was January 2018. “Russiagate”Cardin released a report, which he had requested from the Democratic staff at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The report accused Russia of an unlawful act. “assault” “democratic and transatlantic institutions and alliances,”Use “disinformation, cyberattacks, military invasions, alleged political assassinations, threats to energy security, election interference, and other subversive tactics.”
Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. French and German-brokered protocols were intended to provide special status for the Ukrainian states that break away from the state.
Since then, the Kremlin demanded Ukraine declare itself neutral and vow to never join NATO’s military bloc. Kiev maintains that Russia’s offensive was not provoked and denies claims it planned to seize the two republics.
[ad_2]
