Ukraine Gets Double Boost from NATO Allies

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will end the week having secured two new military aid commitments from NATO allies, though Kyiv is still waiting for a major American package stranded on the Hill by partisan gridlock.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Friday to announce a new cooperation deal with Ukraine as well as some $3.2 billion in fresh funding. A significant portion of that will be dedicated to drones, which have become a key battlefield weapon.

Sunak's latest commitment comes shortly after Zelensky's productive trip to NATO's Baltic states rounded off with a new aid package from Latvia that will include artillery weapons and munitions, as well as a plan to train more Ukrainian troops.

"Our Western allies are determined to provide the necessary military aid because they understand that this year might be difficult and crucial for Ukraine," Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and chair of the body's foreign affairs committee, told Newsweek.

"This package gives us certainty that this year Ukraine will not be left alone no matter what takes place in the U.S. Congress," Merezhko said, noting Kyiv's particular need for "artillery shells, air defense systems, long-range missiles."

The frozen U.S. aid package—valued at some $50 billion—dwarfs those being provided by the U.K. and Latvia. But the British-Latvian assistance announced this week includes vital weapons that Kyiv says it needs to make it through a second difficult winter of full-scale war.

The British package will include long-range missiles, air defense, artillery ammunition and elements of maritime security, Sky News reported. Riga, meanwhile, will be providing howitzers, anti-tank defense and air defense systems, helicopters and other equipment, Deutsche Welle said.

A Latvian diplomatic official who spoke with Newsweek on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly said Riga hopes its military package will serve to remind Europeans and Americans of the danger in Ukraine at a pivotal moment.

"There are priorities that cannot be forgotten in internal political battles," they said.

The idea of spreading Ukraine fatigue, the diplomat added, is not one necessarily based in reality. "I do not see fatigue, really," they said. "It's what the Russians would want to portray or would want us in Europe to think. We only have temporary challenges in decision-making in a few places like the U.S. and Brussels due to temporary internal political issues, not related to fatigue."

The European Union, the official predicted, would overcome the Hungarian block on Ukraine funding early this year.

In the U.S., the official said, the issue is "about interparty struggle and voters; Democrats not being able to do what Republicans ask in return for supporting the package."

Kyiv is in desperate need of good news. The year has begun under the cloud, with its counteroffensive's failure and Russia's most intense aerial bombardments yet. A series of elections in Europe and the U.S. this year look set to bring more "Ukraine-skepticism" to the fore, as populist politicians question the value of a long war against Moscow.

Neither side is willing to downgrade their war goals. Zelensky is committed to liberating all of its territory per its internationally recognized 1991 borders. President Vladimir Putin has said any peace talks must be on the basis of the "new territorial realities" of Russian occupation.

"We don't see any request from Russia," Zelensky told The New York Times of revived negotiations in December. "Not in their rhetoric, not in their action. We just see brazen willingness to kill."

Update 1/12/24, 9:19 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from a Latvian diplomatic official.