Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks at a security forum hosted by the Center for European Policy Analysis on Sept. 27, 2023. McConnell said that in supporting Ukraine, the U.S. is reinvigorating its industrial base and preventing Russia from moving into NATO territory. (Twitter/Center for European Policy Analysis )
Former President Donald Trump is to blame for growing Republican opposition to arming Ukraine, according to the top Senate Republican, who also said Americans are being misled about the nature of Russia’s war.
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate minority leader, said Wednesday that in supporting Ukraine, the U.S. is lining up against all its chief adversaries, reinvigorating its industrial base and preventing an expansionist Russia from moving into NATO territory.
“I think it’s an easy call (to support Ukraine),” McConnell said during a forum hosted by the Center for European Policy Analysis.
But as the war in Ukraine drags on, an influential segment of the Republican Party has become increasingly vocal about ending American aid to Kyiv.
“The reason Republican support is declining is the opposition of the former president,” McConnell said. “That’s the bad news. ... I think the American people are being to some extent misled. I don’t think they understand the facts.”
Pallets of ammunition destined for Ukraine are loaded onto an 86th Airlift Wing C-130J Super Hercules at Ramstein Air Base in Germany in August 2022. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Sept. 27, 2023, that arming Ukraine in its war against Russia is an "easy call." (Emma Quirk/U.S. Air Force)
Still, McConnell said the good news is that leadership in key congressional panels, such as the armed services and foreign relations committees, remains staunchly behind Ukraine.
While critics of U.S. policy toward Ukraine have characterized American aid as something of a blank check, McConnell said the support adds up to a fraction of American gross domestic product.
Since the start of the war on Feb. 24, 2022, the U.S. has given about $44 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, about 5% of the Defense Department’s annual budget. Meanwhile, Russia has suffered as many as 120,000 casualties, U.S. officials have said.
And “we’re not losing any American military personnel,” McConnell said.
U.S. M1A1 Abrams tanks used for training Ukrainian troops await transport to Grafenwoehr, Germany, in May 2023. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Sept. 27, 2023, that former President Donald Trump is largely at fault for the decline in GOP enthusiasm for supplying Ukraine with weapons. (Christian Carrillo/U.S. Army)
Still, the war has raised concerns about the rapid depletion of U.S. weapon stockpiles, which could cause complications if the U.S. needs to lend support in the Pacific should China make a move on Taiwan.
McConnell offered a counterargument, though, saying the war in Ukraine is forcing an overdue expansion of the U.S. industrial base, providing employment for large numbers of Americans.
“We rebuild those (munitions) in many instances with more modern, cutting-edge equipment,” he said. “And we need to be rebuilding our industrial base anyway, wholly aside from the Ukraine war, because of the rising competition from Russia, and China.”
Whether that expansion and replenishment of weaponry is happening fast enough remains an open question. But beyond economics, backing Ukraine is about securing Europe, McConnell said.
“If Putin is to win this, some NATO country will be next,” he said.
