An Extraordinary Moment

Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs at The White House at the NATO Public Forum on 12 July 2023 forcefully and appropriately responding to a question from Daria Kaleniuk, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Kyiv, Ukraine-based Anticorruption Action Centre who posited that the government of the United States individually and NATO collectively were irresponsibly preventing the government of Ukraine from becoming a member of NATO.

Mr. Sullivan’s response included that the “American people deserve gratitude” from Ukraine for the substantial contributions delivered by United States taxpayers from 2014 and since 24 February 2022 more than US$113.1 billion in borrowed funds- more than all other country contributions combined.

excerpts

KALENIUK: … “President Biden and NATO did not invited Ukraine because he [they] are afraid of Russia, afraid of Russia losing, afraid of Ukraine winning, or there are backchannel communications with Kremlin- which is a terrorist organization, to reach the Minsk 3 deal?  Should I prepare my son to be a soldier and fight Russians when he will be eighteen years in seven years?”

SULLIVAN: “The United States of America has stepped-up to provide an enormous amount of capacity to help ensure Ukraine’s brave soldiers have the ammunition, the air defense, the infantry fighting vehicles, the mine clearing equipment, and so much else to be able to effectively defend against Russia’s onslaught and to take territory back as well.  And we will continue to do that for as long as it takes…. Some of what was said in your remarks about motives I think was entirely unfounded and unjustified.  …For us to make sure in having that honesty, certain insinuations, or implications inherent in your question which are not founded get checked at the door…. I think the American people do deserve a degree of gratitude [from Ukraine].”

The ”lack of gratitude” theme and increasingly strident and insulting comments from officials of the government of Ukraine and from individuals of Ukrainian decent participating in forums in various cities is providing no positive value to the government of Ukraine.  Heads of state and heads of government are increasingly tired of issues relating to Ukraine.  There is “Ukraine fatigue” and there is “Zelensky fatigue” which is more perilous as the focus by those governments providing collectively more than US$200 billion during the last sixteen months continues to shift toward funding a war to discussions and negotiations about how to end the war.