Ukrainian-born member of U.S. House blasts Biden, Zelenskyy for Ukraine war politicking

The first and only Ukrainian-born member of the U.S. House accused President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of “playing politics with people’s lives” as the war in Ukraine rages with no clear end in sight.

Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz, who was among the first members of Congress to visit post-invasion Ukraine, signaled the limits of unbridled support from Capitol Hill for an aimless war in a scathing statement Wednesday.

“President Biden has to stop playing politics, have a clear strategy and align security assistance with our strategy,” Ms. Spartz, Indiana Republican, said in her statement in which she listed “urgent action items needed to get the situation under control.”

She said Mr. Zelenskyy “has to stop playing politics and theater, and start governing to better support his military and local governments,” and called on Congress to “establish proper oversight of critical infrastructure and delivery of weapons.”

Ms. Spartz has introduced several measures in support of Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of her homeland in late February including a bill to allow U.S. citizens to fight for Ukraine and legislation to remove red tape from U.S. aid shipments to the country.

She offered a resolution in early March expressing “unequivocal support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

In May, Ms. Spartz voted in favor of the $40 billion supplemental aid package for Ukraine which 57 of her Republican House colleagues voted against.

Her recent criticism, however, suggests that she does not offer her support for Ukraine blindly.

“My understanding of the situation in Ukraine is not from books or theories or surveillance reports and analytics, but from seeing and hearing what’s actually happening with my own eyes,” she said.

Ms. Spartz’s critique could signal added challenges for President Biden in the coming months.

The White House has not ruled out needing to ask Congress for additional aid as Russia’s unrelenting assault drags on.

The U.S. has provided $6.9 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the invasion, and each new weapons shipment chips away at the last $40 billion package approved by Congress last month.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters last month that it is impossible to predict how long the war will last and said it is too early to tell whether the administration will need additional funding.

“President Biden has made it clear that we’re going to continue to support Ukraine as much as we can, as fast as we can,” he said. “And we’re doing that. We’ll see where this goes going forward.”

Members of Congress from both parties overwhelmingly supported the last package, which included economic and humanitarian assistance along with military aid. The House approved the package by a 368 to 57 margin, and the Senate voted 86 to 11 to send the bill to the president’s desk.

Although support for the last package was overwhelming in Congress, it was not unanimous.

A group of 57 Republicans in the House and 11 Republicans in the Senate voted against the measure. Some of the lawmakers objected to what they said was a lack of accountability for the lethal aid after a measure to specifically fund the Department of Defense Inspector General to oversee the assistance.

Some of the lawmakers also objected to sending aid to Ukraine while America faces growing problems on its Southwest border, supply chain snags and rising costs from inflation.

Other lawmakers’ objections to the aid aligned with Ms. Spartz’s more recent criticism of President Biden’s lack of a clear strategy in Ukraine, which they said should direct the aid.

The administration has been wary to define the contours of the war and has pledged that Ukraine alone will define its victory, but a small group of lawmakers has begun asking how the war ends and how much it will cost.

“I will not go into many problems at this time and there are plenty of them, but will just list three urgent action items needed to get the situation under control,” she said before listing her grievances with Messrs. Biden and Zelenskyy’s leadership and Congress’ lack of oversight.