Representative Victoria Spartz, the first Ukrainian member of Congress, urges the State Department to send its diplomats back to Ukraine.
Spartz, a Republican from Indiana, wrote a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, saying the United States should consider redeploying US diplomats to Lviv in western Ukraine to better coordinate with Ukraine. Spartz noted the actions of the European Union, which has returned its diplomatic corps to Kyiv.
“As the sole largest provider of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, it is time for the United States to follow in our footsteps with our European allies,” Spartz wrote.
The United States and other countries withdrew their diplomats and evacuated embassies and consulates from Kyiv in the days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, transporting them to the western city of Lviv. These officials were soon transferred to Poland, heading to Lviv, and the State Department suspended all diplomatic services in Lviv shortly before the Russian invasion began.
In recent days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged more countries to re-establish a diplomatic presence in the country.
“We need your support, even at the level of symbols and diplomatic gestures. “Please come back, all of you who are brave, go back to our capital and keep working,” Zelenski said last week.
However, given the ongoing fighting and concerns about renewed Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine, the Biden government is making no move to open an embassy in Ukraine in the near future, despite other countries starting to do so, according to two US officials familiar with the matter.
What other lawmakers say: Spartz’s letter signals public pressure on the United States to reconsider this position. A Democrat who supports restoring diplomatic presence in Ukraine said there have been questions from the region as to why the Americans are not there as other countries have returned.
Another Democrat, however, said the State Department had good reason to be wary of returning Americans to Ukrainian territory. While Russia has refocused its military efforts on the east and south of the country, the Russian air force may still strike Kyiv and Lviv. While any deaths of civilians from NATO countries in Ukraine could threaten to escalate the conflict with Russia, there are significantly different consequences for the United States, the lawmaker said: “It’s a very different security situation and an escalating stance.”
Ukrainian officials and activists are watching other countries move to reopen their embassies and are frustrated by the US reluctance. The European Union announced last week that it would resume its diplomatic presence in the Ukrainian capital.
Daria Kaleniuk, co-founder and executive director of the Center for Action against Corruption, also urges the United States to reopen its embassy “urgently.” Kaleniuk believes the embassy is symbolically important, but it is also important because it allows visits to Congress and incoming missions to be made easier.
“What I learned is why politicians do not come because there is no embassy. “Therefore, the embassy can not provide them with support to come,” Kaleniuk said after spending last week at the Capitol meeting with lawmakers. “The lack of a US Embassy in Ukraine also has a negative impact on the ability to purchase advanced weapons. “Contractors who manufacture these advanced weapons see that there is not even an embassy in Ukraine and can not work on contracts with Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that Congress may need to approve additional funding for military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in its war with Russia, signaling timely support for more aid. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Sumer also said he would need to.
“As we send them weapons and ammunition, we may need to make another additional expenditure account to continue arming the Ukrainians and replenishing weapons in other NATO countries that have sent their reserves to Ukraine,” he said. McConnell at an appearance at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce in Louisville.
Congress approved about $ 14 billion in aid to Ukraine just last month. McConnell said the Ukrainians could win the war if properly supported.
“My position on this from the beginning is that our goal should be victory. To win. “And I think the administration was reluctant to say that the goal is to win.” “I think our definition of victory is what Zelensky says. In other words, as long as they want to fight, we must give them what we can to win the fight. “
