Free Republic

Ukrainian officials are warning Republicans who may soon take control in Congress: Defeating Russia means providing not just weapons, but more money for Ukraine’s economy as well.Ukrainian leaders believe that, despite dissident notes from some on the far right, a fully or partially GOP-led Congress won’t skimp on giving Kyiv military aid. In fact, Ukraine expects “even more robust” weapons packages if Republicans are in charge, said Daniel Vajdich, a lobbyist for the Ukrainian government.

Nearly two months since Moscow’s invasion, Kyiv is still bearing the brunt of Western Europe’s dependence on Russian oil. Ukraine has continued to transport close to one-third of Russian gas to the European Union through its network of pipelines, as western leaders struggle to break their dependence on Russian energy, putting Ukrainians at risk to maintain the same infrastructure that keeps their enemy afloat. “Even inside of Ukraine it is very difficult to explain,” Naftogaz CEO Yuriy Vitrenko told The Washington Times in an interview. “It’s almost two months into the war. They’re killing innocent people and you read these...

this administration has been much tougher on Russia than any in the post-Cold War era," said Daniel Vajdich, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.... Take military spending: Trump sought to add $1.4 billion for fiscal year 2018 to the European Deterrence Initiative — a military effort to deter Russian aggression that was initially known as the European Reassurance Initiative. That's a 41 percent increase from the last year of the Obama administration. The president also agreed to send lethal weapons to Ukraine — a step that Obama resisted. And Trump gave U.S. forces in Syria more leeway to engage with...