Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, Washington’s position has been that Moscow must pay dearly and no price tag is too high. 

Indeed, U.S. President Joe Biden said there were only two options following Russia’s invasion: “Go to war with Russia, physical… or two make sure that a country that acts so contrary to international law pays a price for having done it.”  

As the war keeps raging, the U.S. has applied pressure on European countries to “expeditiously deliver promised economic assistance to Ukraine,” a U.S. official told the Financial Times.

“We reiterate our call for all Ukraine partners to more quickly deliver promised assistance to Ukraine, to increase their commitments, and to prioritize assistance in the form of grants over loans,” the official said.

The Biden administration announced another $1.1 billion in additional Security Assistance for Kyiv, which brings the total to more than $16.2 billion since the 24 February invasion. Congress also approved another $12.4 billion in military and economic aid in its stop-gap spending package. Congress approved $54 billion earlier this year in general aid to Ukraine.

Germany has committed about $1.2 billion in military aid to Ukraine. The U.K. has committed €2.3 billion in military assistance. France has also committed $2 billion to Ukraine. The World Bank has provided Kyiv with $13 billion in total aid so far.

The Trends Journal has reported on the enormous financial and military support that Ukraine has received since the start of the war. According to Anti-War.com the U.S. has pumped over $67 billion of taxpayers money to keep bloodying the Ukraine killing fields since the war started.

Washington, which since the end of WWII has slaughtered millions and destroyed nations across the globe, continues to sell the line (that the public swallows) that the funding is a fight for Western democracy in Ukraine… which the European Union had classified as the most corrupt nation in Europe. They call Russian troops war criminals who have committed atrocities on the battlefield, and if they are not stopped in their tracks, it will jeopardize all of Europe.

Those opposed to the funding say the cash flows do nothing but keep the war going when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should be negotiating for a peaceful resolution. (See “RUSSIA WINNING UKRAINE WAR, STILL NO TALK OF PEACE FROM ZELENSKY” (9 Aug 2022), “EU HEADS PROMISE TO KEEP UKRAINE WAR GOING” (21 Jun 2022), “LAVROV: U.S. IS ‘ON BRINK’ OF BEING INVOLVED IN UKRAINE CONFLICT” (27 Sep 2022), and “PLACE YOUR BETS: CHANCELLOR SCHOLZ SAYS RUSSIA WILL LOSE UKRAINE WAR” (31 May 2022).

The U.S. sees advances on the battlefield by Ukrainian forces as evidence that the pace of the assistance needs to quicken because Russia is on the ropes. The Financial Times report said Denys Shmyhal, the prime minister of Ukraine, met with Charles Michel and said the country needs about €3.5 billion in assistance each month and needs the funding as quickly as possible.

The International Monetary Fund on Friday announced a new financing instrument that would enable Kyiv to receive funding at a quicker pace. Ukrinform reported that the instrument will provide “additional access to emergency financing to countries that have urgent balance payments needs arising from the food crisis around the world.”

The World Bank last week also announced $530 million in new supplemental funding in the form of a loan guaranteed by Britain, according to Barron’s. Denmark will guarantee the remaining $30 million.

“The toll of destruction, damage, and dislocation in Ukraine is staggering and continues to grow,” Anna Bjerde, the bank’s regional vice president for Europe and Central Asia, said in the statement, according to the news outlet. “The Ukrainian people have a long road to recovery ahead and development partners will need to continue to pull together to support Ukraine’s reconstruction.”

TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal’s position since the start of the war is that Zelensky should negotiate for peace because each day that passes inches the world closer to nuclear Armageddon. The attacks on Ukranian nuclear power plants are just another example of the risks to the world as the war drags on.

And, the longer the war rages, since we forecast Russia will defeat Ukraine, the more Ukraine will have to give up when they are in a defeated position. 

We have been opposed to Putin’s decision to invade the country, but, unlike the willfully propagandist Western media, we identified reasons why Russia invaded. (See “ONE SIDE ONLY: MEDIA SELLS RUSSIA INVASION IN UKRAINE AS ‘UNPROVOKED,’” 8 Mar 2022)

Ukrainian forces continue to challenge the Russians for land in the eastern part of the country. Russian forces on Saturday withdrew from the Ukrainian city Lyman in the Donetsk region, where Russia just held a referendum that has been called a sham by Western officials.

However, on Monday, Russia Today reported Ukrainian forces’ counter attack in the Kherson Region had been stopped. And in a Telegram post the deputy head of the local administration, Kirill Stremousov, stated that “everything is under control in the Nikolayev direction,” and that Ukraine’s forces are “taking a beating” from Russian Aerospace Forces.

The official admitted that the Ukrainians were able to advance a little bit, but noted that the region’s defense systems were working and that “at the moment, the situation is completely under control.”

TRENDPOST: We have long warned that the longer the war drags on, the more likely that the war will involve other countries. Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the southern Russian republic of Chechnya, called for Moscow to take “more drastic measures,” according to The Associated Press. 

The New York Times reported that Lyman is part of the newly annexed territory that Russian President Vladimir Putin called “Novorossiya,” or New Russia.