During the long, cold winter months, the battlefield in Ukraine appears to have ground to a stalemate but, behind the scenes, the diplomatic push for a negotiated settlement to end the war with Russia appears to be heating up. Looming above any push for peace, however, is former President Donald Trump.
In the nearly two years since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion, Ukraine has enjoyed widespread support from the U.S. and other Western nations, which have provided weaponry, intelligence, and logistical support to the beleaguered eastern European nation.
But with a U.S. election approaching later this year, skepticism appears to be growing among Republicans about continuing aid to Ukraine, an issue that has become a central sticking point in a dispute over President Joe Biden’s border policy and the fight over a looming government shutdown. A number of influential, developing countries are also becoming more vocal in calling for a deal to end the war.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., gave a blunt assessment of the position of some of his fellow Republicans at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this month.
There are two states, he told NBC News. There has to be a two-state solution. But he said the message was funding for Ukraine comes with expectations that we have to bring the parties to the negotiating table.
A Republican split is also evident in the presidential race, where in a recent speech, a dismissive Trump accused President Biden of putting America last and Ukraine first. Nikki Haley, meanwhile, has called for the funding to continue.
But in a special closed-door Republican meeting on Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has been pushing hard for a bipartisan deal to pass the border legislation and foreign aid bill, cast doubt on whether it would succeed. Citing GOP opposition to its provisions, he told senators that linking the two measures could also kill around $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, a person familiar with the discussions told NBC News.
House Republican leaders have for months expressed their skepticism about passing aid to Ukraine, and Trump has pushed congressional GOP members to kill the bill in the hope that he can use the debate over immigration to attack Biden on the campaign trail.
It’s not only in America where a deal is being mooted.
Four senior diplomats told NBC News that voices from the Global South pressed harder than ever for negotiations at a meeting earlier this month attended by National Security Advisors from 81 countries.
And at the World Economic Forum in Davos, there was support for diplomatic talks to include Russia, although Putin has not given any public indication that he is ready to negotiate with Ukraine, and some have questioned whether he would stick to a deal if one was reached.
I realize how difficult it is but, in the end, there will have to be a negotiated settlement, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said in an interview. From our perspective, this conflict has already gone on too long. And the sooner it can end, the better.
