With the Russia-Ukraine war crossing into its third year, Ukraine faces a dilemma because it cannot win the war with only European Union support and no further U.S. military funding, Northeastern University experts say. On the eve of the second anniversary of its invasion, Russian forces made advances in northeastern Ukraine, capturing the city of Avdiivka and other small strategic points. The Ukrainian army, overwhelmed with the large numbers of Russian troops and air and artillery firepower, was forced to retreat.
If the U.S. Congress doesn’t release $61 billion in funding that has been earmarked by the Biden administration, the Ukrainian army, low on ammunition, will lose more troops and make no successful advances, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a CNN interview.
Northeastern University foreign policy expert Mai’a Cross agrees. “It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the European Union to help Ukraine defeat Russia on its own, especially in the short run,” says Cross, dean’s professor of political science, international affairs and diplomacy and director of the Center for International Affairs and World Cultures at Northeastern.
“When it comes to military equipment, even if the EU were to send as much as possible, it would not be enough without U.S. support,” Cross says. Western allies’ support for Ukraine currently looks somewhat weaker, she says, than it was a year ago. Countries are starting to express some differences of opinion about the degree of assistance they are willing to provide both in the form of weaponry and funding.
