Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., told constituents at a town hall last week that it was time that the U.S. acknowledges that the Ukraine War is lost and it may be time to force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate for peace.

While the Biden administration insists publicly that the decision to stop fighting rests solely with Kyiv, there is little doubt that the war will end when Washington cuts off its funding spigot. There was hope that Kyiv could somehow stage a miraculous counteroffensive that chased Russian forces back to pre-24 February 2022 lines, but that is no longer a possibility. 

Harris said it is time that the U.S. realizes that the counteroffensive failed. 

“I’m not sure it’s winnable anymore,” he said, according to Politico.

The report noted that Harris is a member of the “hard-right House Freedom Caucus” and a co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. His mother fled Eastern Europe after WWII, the report said. 

Contrary to many in his caucus, Harris was a major supporter for Ukraine and voted in favor of major funding packages. Politico said he was asked if he would throw his support behind more military aid, and he responded, “If there is humanitarian monies, nonmilitary monies, or military monies without an inspector general, I’m not supporting it.”

The news outlet reported that Harris’s change represents just what a headache Speaker Kevin McCarthy will face later this year when considering President Joe Biden’s request for another $24 billion in emergency funding for the war-torn country. 

“I think the time has come to realistically call for peace talks,” Harris said, according to the report. “I know President [Volodymyr] Zelensky doesn’t want it, but Zelensky, without our help, he would abjectly lose the war. And with our help, he’s not winning. It’s a stalemate now.”

TRENDPOST: Normally, such comments from a member of the House Freedom Caucus would not be too remarkable. So-called (“hard-right” politicians, unlike the so-called “liberal leftists”) in the U.S. have been some of the only voices in Congress to question the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine. 

But Harris has been a major advocate for supporting the country and the shift shows just how dire the situation has become for Ukraine. (See “AS FORECAST, UKRAINE’S COUNTEROFFENSIVE HAS FAILED: NEGOTIATE FOR PEACE, OR DIE AT WAR” in this issue of The Trends Journal.

“I certainly expect the narrative in the U.S. to be turning that way [towards reducing support],” Max Hess, a Eurasia specialist at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told INews UK. “This was always going to happen because Donald Trump is going to be the Republican nominee.” (See “U.S. POLLS SHOW DWINDLING BACKING FOR UKRAINE SUPPORT” 7 Mar 2023.)

Support for Ukraine will almost certainly play a big role in the next presidential election in 2024.

Steven Whitley, a Republican voter in Tupper Lake, N.Y., told NPR, “I think they [politicians in Washington] ought to spend a lot more money at home and take care of our own people.”

Whitley, who seems much more sophisticated in his news analysis than most Americans, told the outlet that Washington has no business intervening in a conflict on the opposite side of the world and “rejected the idea Ukraine is a democracy and an ally worth protecting. Leaders in both Ukraine and Russia, he believes, are corrupt.” (See “ZELENSKY’S CORRUPTION: IT’S THE UKRAINE WAY” 28 Feb 2023, “ZELENSKY SAID HE REFUSED TO HONOR MINSK ACCORD WITH RUSSIA” 14 Feb 2023, “U.S., NATO, UKRAINE: NO PEACE PERMITTED. TANKS NOT ENOUGH, ZELENSKY WANTS MORE WEAPONS” 31 Jan 2023 and “ZELENSKY TO MEDIA: I OWN YOU” 10 Jan 2023.)

V.P. Harris, in the meantime, echoed what The Trends Journal has long warned: that more war in Ukraine could eventually lead to WWIII becoming official. In fact, we have noted that WWIII has already begun and if we do not have peace, it will escalate into a nuclear war. 

And, as noted, while we and others called for peace talks, they have been rejected by Washington and NATO:

● “PUTIN ACCUSES U.S. OF TRYING TO PULL RUSSIA INTO CONFLICT” (8 Feb 2022)

● “RUSSIA WINNING WAR, U.S/UKRAINE REFUSES TO NEGOTIATE FOR PEACE” (5 Jul 2022)

● “PUTIN SAYS UKRAINE WANTS WAR, WON’T NEGOTIATE FOR PEACE” (20 Sep 2022)

● “MORE WAR, NO PEACE: WHILE WESTERN ECONOMIES SINK, U.S. PRESSURES ALLIES TO EXPEDITE FUNDING FOR UKRAINE” (4 Oct 2022)

● “TO NEGOTIATE OR NOT TO NEGOTIATE FOR UKRAINE PEACE… THAT’S NOT A LEGIT QUESTION IN THE U.S.” (15 Nov 2022)

● “U.S. DECLARES MORE WAR, NO TIME FOR PEACE” (20 Dec 2022) 

● “GERMANY: NO PEACE PERMITTED, AGAIN AT WAR WITH RUSSIA” (7 Mar 2023)

● “WARMONGER BLINKEN, NO TIME FOR PEACE” (6 Jun 2023)

● “GOOD BOY: ZELENSKY REJECTS PEACE TALKS” (20 Jun 2023)

● “U.S. AT WAR WITH RUSSIA: WASHINGTON SENDING $1.3 BILLION FOR UKRAINE” (25 Jul 2023)

● “UKRAINE PEACE PROPOSAL: NO WAY, NO HOW” (8 Aug 2023)