Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has warned Americans to keep supporting Kiev or risk geopolitical irrelevance, during a press conference on the anniversary of Russia’s military operation in the country. Should it stop funding the war effort, the US will "lose the leadership position that they are enjoying in the world," the Ukrainian leader declared on Friday.
"If they do not change their opinion…they will lose NATO, they will lose the clout of the United States, they will lose the leadership position they are enjoying in the world," Zelensky declared, following a speech in which he declared 2023 the "Year of Invincibility" and vowed to unite the world against Russia.
The warning was a response to a reporter asking what Zelensky would tell the "growing number of Americans" who believe their country is giving too much money and support to Ukraine. The president made sure to thank his American supporters – a group he hinted included not just Congress and President Joe Biden but also "the TV channels" and "the journalists" – before threatening those who held the "dangerous" opinion that the US should "give up" on Kiev.
"The US is never going to give up on a NATO member state," Zelensky declared, insisting that should Ukraine fall because of flagging support from Washington, Russia would "enter the Baltic states, NATO member states, and then the US will have to send their sons and daughters exactly the way as we are sending their [sic] sons and daughters to war."
"They will be dying," the Ukrainian leader stressed.
The actor-turned-politician added that interrupting the flow of dollars to Ukraine would also cause the US to "lose the support of a country with 40 million population, with millions of children. Are American children any different from ours?" he asked.
The Republican Party regained control of the House of Representatives in last year’s midterm elections in part on a promise to curtail the Biden administration’s blank check to Kiev. While Congress has not yet passed any legislation to rein in spending on the conflict, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) promised earlier this week to introduce a bill to force an audit of the Ukraine aid program and the House Oversight Committee demanded the administration turn over documents proving the military and economic aid being sent to Ukraine was not being lost to "waste, fraud, and abuse."
The US has thus far pledged $113 billion to Ukraine's war effort, vowing to continue pouring money into the conflict for "as long as it takes."