Continued US Aid to Ukraine Questioned As Support Softens

The United States has provided over $75 billion in aid to Ukraine since January 2022. A recent poll concluded Americans are split on the issue, with half saying the U.S. should provide aid “as long as it takes,” and 46% believing U.S. support should have a “limited timeframe.”

As Long As It Takes: Voices across the spectrum have shown support for continued aid. A National Review article listed reports of Russian war crimes and Ukrainian casualties to argue that “we should resist the temptation to get numb. To yawn, wearily, or indifferently.” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote a piece for New York Times Opinion (Left Bias) urging continued support for economic and military aid, writing that the U.S. is motivated by “a moral duty to come to the aid of a people under attack.”

Limited Timeframe: Others on all sides are more skeptical. A piece in The Intercept labeled the debate over military aid “a trap because it’s presented as a binary choice,” and called for increased discussion and debate on the topic, concluding that Western officials believe the war is a “convenient battleground to debilitate Russia and hopefully end Putin’s reign, which is very different from a ‘moral’ duty to protect the defenseless.” A piece in The American Conservative (Right Bias) stated that “U.S. involvement in the war is a sham,” arguing that "the spigot of Ukrainian aid is a serious drain on" U.S. military stockpiles.