The Capitals: Kyiv suffers one blow after another from Washington, Brussels

This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made his third wartime visit to Washington in order to make a personal plea for the military and economic aid he said Kyiv needs to face Russia during ongoing war. He returned after failingto secure new commitments for weapons from Washington amid wide political divisions on the Capitol Hill.

Unlike his first wartime visit to Washington in December 2022, when he became an unmissable figure on television screens worldwide during his address to the US Congress, there were no cheers or whistles for the Ukrainian leader in the American corridors of power.

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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky presented a Ukrainian flag given to him by 'defenders of Bakhmut' to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after his address to the US Congress on Dec 21, 2023 | AFP

"Your money is not charity, it's an investment in the global security and democracy that we will handle in the most responsible way," Zelensky had promised the US Congress on December 21, 2022.

A year down the line, and after receiving over $75 billion in assistance from the United States — which includes humanitarian, financial, and military support— Kyiv is failing to thwart Russian advances on the frontline.

Some of these US-suppliedweapons were stolen by criminals, purported volunteer fighters and arms traffickers, a report from the US defence department's inspector general revealed in July 2023.Ukrainian criminals posed as aid workers to steal bulletproof vests, the report further added.

Also watch |Report: Kyiv can't account for 'hundreds of millions' in weapons | Russia-Ukraine War

On the face of it, the US House Republicans are opposing Joe Biden's latest$61.4 billion aid package for Ukraine by citing the need for more funding for the US border security. But at its core, the durability of Washington-led western commitments to Ukraine remains uncertain amid Russian frontline belligerence.

Later this week, Kyiv turned to Brussels, thede-facto capital of European Union.

European Union's financial aid, while less visible than American guns and ammunition, is no less vital for Ukraine’s survival amid the ongoing war.

But even in Brussels, Kyiv's bid to fund its survival failed due to Hungary's intervention.

Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said that all but one of the EU's 27 countries backed the package of about $52 billion, in financial support for Ukraine.

"One leader couldn’t agree on this," Michel said on Friday (Dec 15) whilereferring to Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary.

The only symbolic win Kyiv could claim this week was that the European Unionagreed to open membership talks with the country at war with Russia.

But Kyiv's accession to EU could take years asthe process to join the EU is lengthy and complicated. In both Washington and Brussels, Kyiv suffereddiplomatic setbacks that can vitally impact Kyiv's military effort in the ongoing war against Russia.