Why US Republicans are showing more determination regarding Ukraine

A delegation of Ukrainian MPs visited Washington not long ago.

The key goals of the visit were to secure assistance from congressmen and senators on several issues: permission to use US weapons on Russian territory and an increase in the number of Ukrainian pilots training on F-16s at American airbases.

Just a week after the Ukrainian delegation's visit, the House Intelligence Committee released a bipartisan letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, urging him to meet the aforementioned demands and expedite the delivery of weapons.

Read more about how American lawmakers view lifting the ban on striking Russiam territory with US weapons and why Republicans are showing more determination in the article by Kateryna Lisunova, a Ukrainian correspondent of Voice of America – Striking Russia with US weapons: How Congress is changing its stance on the ban for Ukraine.

Democratic Party leaders in Congress do not reject the need to lift the ban, but they are more restrained in their comments.

They traditionally support the policies of the White House under a Democratic president.

However, some Democrats are gradually changing their rhetoric.

For example, Congressman Adam Smith told Voice of America that he supports lifting the restrictions on the Russian border with Kharkiv.

"I support lifting the ban specifically on the Kharkiv direction," he said.

Another Democrat, Congressman Dean Phillips, believes that the administration should lift the ban altogether because it complicates Ukraine's path to victory.

Meanwhile, Democrat Gregory Meeks believes that permission for striking Russia should not be announced publicly to avoid alerting the enemy.

The position of Democrats on whether to allow Ukraine to strike targets in Russia with US weapons varies not only among lawmakers in Congress but also among White House officials.

These differences in the administration explain the varying statements from Democratic congressmen.

According to The New York Times, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken supports lifting the ban.

Pentagon representatives have more of the all-or-nothing mentality in their statements.

The Republican stance on this issue is more unified.

Of course, it doesn't include members of the far-right wing of the party, who have not made public statements either for or against striking Russia with US weapons. They are consistently and flatly opposed to any aid to Ukraine and often oppose many initiatives of their own party.

However, there are increasingly vocal statements reflecting a conservative, "hawkish" approach reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's era, within the Republican majority, including party leaders.

This trend can be explained by the ongoing election campaigns in the USA.

Republicans tend to lean towards the classic supporters of Reagan-era policies.