The US Should Stop Funding the Ukraine Conflict

In 2018, the U.S. placed a weapons ban on the Ukrainian Azov Brigade, which had been fighting against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014.

According to the U.S. Department of State, this came after American lawmakers reported that this battalion and other privately funded Ukrainian militias were guilty of human rights abuses and that some were outspoken neo-Nazis. Rebecca Kheel from The Hill noted that while Azov lost funding from the U.S., American tax dollars continually sponsored other anti-Russian separatist organizations.   

Four years later, Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Within a week, Ukrainian flags flew in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. In fact, widespread support for the country being attacked was seen throughout the nation, according to a Pew Research poll. Ukraine, which in 2021 the Department of State called out as guilty of arbitrary killings, arbitrary arrest and torture, was suddenly one of the most supported nations by the American people. 

This matter, however, is no longer about flying flags or declaring support for the innocent people being killed in this conflict. At this time, two years into the Ukrainian war, the matter on the table is this: Can Americans justify the price tag of this expensive war being fought 4,900 miles from Washington, D.C.? 

It would seem wrong for a powerful nation to not lift a finger when a strong country invades another, but it also seems wrong to prolong conflict by donating deadly weapons. The Department of State recorded last year’s aid to Ukraine as nearly $16.8 billion, $15 billion more than this year’s current support. Still, with nearly $1.5 billion already pledged to Ukraine in 2024, this country is set to receive far more American aid this year than any other country. 

That is $1.5 billion in tax-payer money not being used in any way to alleviate the stress of 37 million Americans whom the U.S. Census Bureau states are in poverty. That is $1.5 billion that hardworking people of the U.S. have no choice but to send to a war that has no resolution in sight. 

But putting economic reasons aside, the American reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a cause for concern in itself. Immediately after hearing of this foreign conflict, a decision was made that the many militias of Ukraine, even the well-documented neo-Nazis, were no longer too detestable to be given aid. 

Of course, during World War II, the U.S. and the Soviet Union put aside their differences in order to defeat the Nazi powers, but this was only after Hitler conquered much of Europe. Currently, Putin has expressed interest in one country, not world domination as Hitler did. Ukraine was also tied to Russia by the Soviet Union until 1991.

Despite Ukraine’s state before the Russo-Ukraine War, the Center for American Progress (CAP) called on Americans to “uphold the principles of freedom and democracy by approving aid to Ukraine.” CAP, of course, blatantly ignored the fact that before this war, Ukraine was guilty of human rights abuses not conducive to said “freedom” or “democracy.”

The approach to foreign policy that CAP and many Americans are still operating with is based on decades of global policing by the U.S., which has involved itself in conflicts on nearly every continent in the last 50 years. But global roles are changing, and America is no longer a lone superpower that the world looks to as an example. 

“Other countries, getting more powerful, were increasingly able to ignore rules they didn’t like and, occasionally, set some themselves,” Foreign Policy magazine said in reference to the U.S.’s world position in 2023. 

Because of this, continuing to take a firm national stance against Russia, which has been a historical enemy of the U.S., will only serve to distance it further from the West and, therefore, diminish the prospect of a peaceful future relationship between the U.S. and Russia.

As no end appears near for the Russo-Ukraine conflict, Americans must reject the global police-officer position and put their interests first. The U.S. has more than fulfilled its NATO responsibility, and now it is time to act reasonably and keep resources on this side of the Atlantic. 

Kilker is the opinion editor for the Liberty Champion.