‘Wake up!’ European lawmakers warn Washington over Ukraine aid delays

European lawmakers visiting Washington this week issued dire warnings to Democrats and Republicans that the U.S. needs to help Ukraine secure victory over Russia this year or risk losing European assistance in a potential conflict with China over Taiwan. 

The plea came from a delegation of chairs of foreign affairs committees from six countries in Europe and Canada, meeting with U.S. lawmakers in between their fraught negotiations over border security policy that is holding up a major funding package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

“The reality is the U.S. also needs a wake-up call,” said U.K. Member of Parliament Alicia Kearns, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.

“If Taiwan is invaded, the U.S. will need to lead on it alongside Japan, Korea and Australia, and we in Europe will have to lead on Ukraine, and we’ll have to turn around and say to the U.S., we cannot give you what you want in support for Taiwan.”

The European lawmakers framed their message as tough love for an ally that is engulfed in partisan chaos.

​​”When it comes to the Democrats, our message has been, use some muscle, stop bunkering down, don’t let the Republicans set your agenda on foreign policy,” Kearns continued.

“You put the word China in anything, it passes on the Hill.” 

And while the Europeans defended their contributions and commitments to Ukraine – $160 billion between Europe, Canada and Japan — they also conceded that there is no substitute for America’s military support for Ukraine, nor its leadership on the global stage. 

“It’s painful that you have to spend 80 percent of your energy waking up Washington, to be Washington,” said Žygimantas Pavilionis, chair of Foreign Affairs Committee in the Lithuanian Parliament. 

“It takes years to wake up Washington, so please guys, wake up!”

The delegation, which included lawmakers from Canada, the Czech Republic, Spain, France and Lithuania, said expressed optimism that Republicans and Democrats are committed to delivering on President Biden’s $60 billion request to support Ukraine’s defensive war against Russia.

“Not a single Republican that met with us said to us that the money isn’t there for Ukraine. Not a single Republican said they are negotiating to reduce down the Ukraine amount,” Kearns said. 

“And we met with, trust me, ones who would like to never hear the word Ukraine again.”

During their trip, the delegation met with lawmakers including Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Reps. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.), Bill Keating (D-Mass.), Andy Barr (R-Ky.), Brian Mast (R-Fla.) and Andy Harris (R-Md.). 

Republicans writ large have increasingly soured on Ukraine support over the past year, with many arguing taxpayer dollars should be focused on domestic issues. Former President Trump has repeatedly promised to end the war if he returns to the White House, raising fears that he will pressure Ukraine to cede territory to Russia. 

However, the group of European lawmakers, speaking in a roundtable meeting with reporters Thursday, did not express major concerns about a second Trump term, pointing to areas for cooperation on priorities such as Iran that link to other global conflicts.

But they were critical of U.S. lawmakers seeming dismissive of the impact of campaign rhetoric, saying Trump threatening U.S. commitments to NATO undermines America’s reliability overseas and emboldens Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

“You make a flippant comment for domestic benefit … the repercussions are serious,” Kearns said. “And we can’t afford Biden sitting there on his hands bunkering down because he is fearful of what the Republicans will or won’t do or how they’ll use it against him. That’s been my biggest concern, and the message we’re trying to land.”

The European lawmakers will be watching Biden closely as he hosts the NATO summit in Washington in June, concerned the U.S. may fall short on commitments to Ukraine. 

The president and his senior aides have pushed back against calls to give Ukraine an invitation to join the alliance — a point of conflict that played out publicly during the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, last year. But the European lawmakers are concerned that without major commitments from the U.S., Putin will grab the initiative.

“Europe is united on the end state; the end state is to have a Russia that cannot reinvade a neighbor within the next two to five years — which they are currently on track to be able to do — but actually not be able to invade a neighbor for the next 20 years,” Kearns said. 

The $60 billion proposed by Biden for Ukraine is expected to cover Kyiv’s needs for at least a year, a commitment that European leaders welcomed. But with the war in a stalemate, and likely to drag on for months more, future U.S. support is anything but certain. 

Ali Ehsassi, chair of Foreign Affairs Committee for the Parliament of Canada, said the divisiveness among U.S. lawmakers over Ukraine — and global engagement in general — was “unsettling” and “nerve-wracking.”

“We want to have assurances that this is a sturdy alliance that will continue to brainstorm together,” Ehsassi said. 

“I’m sure Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi also see where those cracks are, and that’s not a good thing either. So I’m very much concerned about the symbolism as well, and how it ricochets in foreign capitals.”