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When Jovita Neliupšene leaves her home in Lithuania for Washington, she brings with her a closet’s worth of business attire and an emergency “grab bag” that many of her compatriots keep nearby in case of a Russian attack. I also left.
“You have to always have money, gas, etc. on hand because it’s literally on your doorstep,” said Neliupšene, the European Union’s new ambassador to the United States.
Now, as Europe’s top diplomat in the United States, Neliupshene is responding to the urgency felt on Europe’s eastern border as the $60 billion U.S. aid package for Ukraine stalls in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. We are working to instill this sentiment among Congressional leaders.
It’s been two months since I joined the company, and it hasn’t been easy.
Americans are “in favor” of helping defend Ukraine, she said. “If you look at the polls, over 70% actually support U.S. action against Ukraine,” she told USA TODAY. “So you’re saying somebody has to convince the constituency, but that’s not true.”
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“It’s the leadership, the moral clarity, that’s so important.”
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Holdup in the House of Representatives
A recent survey found that almost three-quarters of Americans think defending Ukraine against Vladimir Putin is important to U.S. national interests, but there’s more to it., more troublesome, The numbers that stand in Neriupshene’s way.
Republicans hold a six-seat majority in the House, and 55% of Republicans say the U.S. government is spending too much on Ukraine, putting them on par with President Joe Biden in opposition to aid. It is a sign of loyalty to former President Donald Trump, who has maintained the A new YouGov poll puts him at 44%.
The European Union and its 27 member states pledged an additional $50 billion to Ukraine, the largest European aid since Russia’s first invasion two years ago, as the U.S. aid came under fire from the House Freedom Caucus. 150 billion dollars. European leaders have pledged to buy much-needed ammunition for Kiev as shipments from the United States dwindle. The United States has so far provided Ukraine with $75 billion in humanitarian, financial, and military assistance.
In a sign of European concern about waning U.S. interest, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested this week that some European countries might send troops to Ukraine, while leaders of several NATO countries rejected the idea, and Putin said it could lead to nuclear war.
“If we want to succeed and end this war, we need to have our feet on the ground: one side of the Atlantic and the other side of the Atlantic,” Neliupshene said.
While aid money remains stuck on Capitol Hill, Washington and Brussels are both seizing Russian government assets and seeking ways to use the funds to rebuild Ukraine.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on the Repo Act, which would give the government the power to seize $5 billion in frozen Russian government assets held in the United States.
Meanwhile, the EU is considering taxing interest on an estimated $170 billion worth of frozen Russian assets. “This is a big step,” Nelyupsyene said, adding that it could bring in benefits of $5 billion to $6 billion a year for Ukraine.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told USA TODAY that “the European Union is important, especially in our efforts to confiscate Russian sovereign assets to help rebuild Ukraine.” He is a great partner.” “I look forward to working with the ambassadors in the coming months and years.”
Related:NATO troops in Ukraine?France’s proposal brings warning from Russia
Strong words from Poland to Chairman Mike Johnson
In Washington on Monday, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to authorize a vote on aid to Ukraine, telling an audience at the Atlantic Council that “If Ukraine experiences a reversal on the battlefield, it will be his fault.” It is the responsibility of the
Neriupsyene, who works on facilitating transatlantic relations on topics such as trade, artificial intelligence and climate change, declined to comment on U.S. domestic politics during the 45-minute interview. But the career diplomat who wrote her doctoral dissertation on Ukraine and Belarus made clear her moral need to stop Putin.
more:Congressional leaders meet with Biden to discuss government shutdown, aid to Ukraine
Comparing the United States and Russia: “Draw your own conclusions”
Trump, who is facing four criminal charges, was asked about comments made by a number of Republicans who compared Trump, who is facing four criminal charges, to Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison camp last month and was buried on Friday. , Neliupshene dismissed any comparisons between the United States and Russia. .
“Well, I’ll tell you what kind of country Russia is, and maybe you can draw your own conclusions,” she said, adding that from among the hundreds of political prisoners in Russian prisons, Vladimir He began a long list of atrocities committed by the Putin regime. The corruption of the silenced media, the invasion of Ukraine itself that killed 10,500 civilians and over 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
Returning to Navalny, she pointed out that Russian police arrested mourners who tried to place flowers at the activist’s monument after his death. “I don’t know if there is such a thing in the West,” she said coldly.
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shadow of history
Neliupshene formally presented his credentials to President Biden at the White House on Tuesday, and both spoke briefly about the need to take a firm stance against Ukraine.
“Russians don’t care about their people, they don’t care about human life,” she says. “And they are actually willing to die to get what they want. That’s why the war in Ukraine is so brutal.”
more:Two years after the invasion, the battle in Ukraine remains battered but unyielding despite “bleak prospects”
Neriupšene is a representative figure in Europe, but Lithuania’s history shows her stance on war.
After World War II, after the Soviet Union annexed Lithuania and the other Baltic states, Neliupshene’s grandparents on both sides of her family were deported to prisoner-of-war camps in Siberia. When some family members completed their sentences, they had to walk most of the way back to Lithuania, more than 3,000 miles away.
She has consistently and loudly warned of Russia’s danger to Europe. A month after Russian forces occupied the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014, she warned Putin not to stop there. “Russia’s unpredictable actions are putting the real security of the entire region and the entire international system at risk,” she said at the time.
“If Putin outlives us,” fatal consequences
Now, Neriupshene is adamant that failure to assist Ukraine will only invite further aggression. On Wednesday, leaders of Transnistria, a Kremlin-backed breakaway region of Moldova that borders western Ukraine, requested Moscow’s protection, an apparent invitation to further Russian military deployments.
“Other authoritarians and dictatorial leaders are paying close attention to what is happening, and if Putin can outlast us, the impact will be very global,” Neliupsyene said. There is a possibility.”
European ambassadors are therefore waiting for a breakthrough in the House of Representatives, as well as in the White House and the Senate.
“I think everyone in Europe is starting to get really, really impatient,” she said.
“Ukrainian citizens are looking at Europeans and Americans because they want to be with us and in our facilities,” she said. “They’re fighting for our values. So I think it’s important that they make a decision if they truly believe in what they preach.”
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