Biden aides give grime assessment of Ukraine war with no US aid

On January 17th, two of President Joe Biden’s top aides met with lawmakers in a private meeting and revealed the dire consequences for Ukraine if the United States failed to provide additional military aid to the embattled country. 

NBC News spoke with two unnamed sources familiar with the meeting and reported that Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and the Director of National Security Avril Haines had nothing good to say about Kyiv's issues. 

Sullivan and Haines warned that Russia might be able to beat Ukraine within a matter of months or even weeks if lawmakers continued to play politics over the authorization of more military assistance for Ukraine. Here’s what else we learned. 

Biden's aides also allegedly provided lawmakers with a classified time frame on how long it would take for several of Ukraine's critical military resources to be depleted to a point where it would affect the war according to the two unnamed sources.

A detailed assessment of current battlefield dynamics was also provided but NBC News noted Sullivan didn’t predict an imminent Russia victory but he did emphasize Ukraine's position would grow increasingly difficult as the war continued. 

Specific date ranges of when Ukraine would run out of its most important weapons were also provided to lawmakers and Biden’s aides told lawmakers that the country’s lack of aid to Kyiv could affect America’s partners around the world.  

For example, the two people familiar with the meeting pointed out that Japan and South Korea were two countries that could rethink their alliance with the US following what the aid situation, or lack thereof, has occurred with Ukraine. 

The private meeting was composed of a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders and all agreed that providing additional military assistance to Ukraine was a national security priority. However, there were disagreements on how to proceed. 

Sullivan and Haines made the case that Ukraine couldn’t hold out for long without the assistance of the United States. The Biden administration aides noted it was not a coincidence that Moscow’s largest aerial attack since February 2022 came when US aid was lacking. 

On October 19th, Biden addressed the nation in a televised speech asking Congress to approve a $100 military aid package that included roughly $60 billion dollars for Ukraine with the rest earmarked to help other embattled American allies.  

"American leadership is what holds the world together,” Biden told the country according to Reuters. “American alliances are what keep us, America, safe," However, none of the assistance to Ukraine Biden requested has been approved. 

Biden has spent months trying to work out a deal with House Republicans on getting the Ukrianians the assistance they require but those efforts have amounted to little and Kyiv is facing the consequences of an emboldened Russia. 

“If we walk away, and Russia is able to sustain their onslaught and bring down Ukraine, what do you think’s going to happen in the Balkan countries?” Biden questioned during an event on January 19th while speaking in the East Room. 

“What do you think is going to happen from Poland to Hungary and Orbán?  Biden went on to say. “I mean, seriously, think about it. It changes the dynamic.” However, while the US is floundering, European countries are stepping in to help. 

European Union officials are set to meet in the coming days with the hopes that they will be able to provide $22 billion in military support to Ukraine and overhaul plans that have been hampered by internal politics according to the Wall Street Journal.  

The United States issued its last security assistance to Ukraine on December 27th and Washington has not been able to provide Kyiv anything else because Congress has yet to approve more funding according to the Associated Press.