Ukraine is being put "on the back foot" by the policies of President Joe Biden's administration and the delays in much-needed aid it needs to fight Russia, giving the larger nation the "initiative across the entire theater" as it pushes into Ukraine near Kharkiv, according to George Barros, the Institute for the Study of War's Russia team lead.
"They're dictating the place, the time, the intensity and the tempo of military operations," Barros told the New York Post, explaining that the aid delays, along with a policy forbidding U.S. weapons from being used to strike Russian targets across the Russia-Ukraine border, are hindering Ukraine's war effort.
"The Ukrainians are on the back foot and are forced to react," he added.
The administration has announced that it will send another $275 million in aid to help replenish artillery rounds, rockets, and other weaponry to Ukraine but the delays have forced Ukraine to retreat further.
In addition, the delays are causing morale issues with Ukrainian troops, Barros said.
"This time last year there was no problem with Ukrainian manpower," he said. "There were volunteer drives where men were signing up in huge numbers. They were coming off successful counteroffensives in 2022 and received new equipment from the West in early 2023. Morale was high and things were hopeful for the future."
But now, battlefield setbacks and delays in aid are leaving the forces feeling "abandoned," because "they know D.C. is constraining their ability to defend themselves," Barros said.
"They're not enthusiastic about going to fight because they understand there are materials shortages, so there's no guarantee they'll be equipped, armed, and trained properly," he added.
Biden in late April signed a supplemental aid package that included more than $60 billion for Ukraine, but the American weaponry has been slow. Russia, meanwhile, timed the advance on Kharkiv to start on May 10, after the aid package was signed but before equipment started coming in.
But Barros said that even when the U.S. supplies arrive, it may not be enough for Ukraine to push back against Russia, particularly with the rules of engagement from the United States stopping Ukraine from hitting troops inside Russia, coming because Biden saying he wishes to "avoid World War III."
This means Russia is putting its weapons and troops across the Ukraine border, to keep them from being attacked while still being able to strike Kharkiv while not being fired on with U.S.-made weapons.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, after visiting Kyiv, has been pushing for the administration to ease its policy against strikes in Russia, reports The New York Times, but the changes may come too late for Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a separate interview with The Times, said that the U.S. policy is giving Russia a "huge advantage," because even though Ukraine has been able to use weapons from other countries to conduct strikes across the Russian border, they lack the power, speed, and modern technology of the American weapons.
Former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, who left the State Department in March, said Sunday in an interview with ABC's "This Week" that the Russian escalation and assault on Kharkiv means that using U.S. weapons to hit targets over Russia's border should be "fair game."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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