Kyiv MP: Early US election results ‘very good for Ukraine’

The strong performance of the Democrats in the midterm elections is “very good for Ukraine,” a member of the Ukrainian parliament told The Hill on Wednesday.

Oleksiy Goncharenko, who is part of the European Solidarity Party in Ukraine, welcomed the early results of the midterm elections, saying he closely followed the defeat of candidates who pursued a more separatist foreign policy and supported the victory of those lawmakers. who supported US aid to Ukraine. ,

“Speaking of the consequences from Ukraine’s point of view, it is clear that the threat to Ukraine was in those people, you could call them separatists or far-right people who were saying, ‘Let’s not care about Ukraine. ‘It’s far from us.’ … These people, I think they are not right and the American voters decided that way.

Continued US aid to Ukraine was a key focus in the political debate ahead of the elections, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) saying Congress would not write a “blank check” on aid to Ukraine if the GOP takes over. control.

While it is not yet clear whether Republicans will win control of Congress, Democrats’ Tuesday night was stronger than expected. The party flipped a US Senate seat in Pennsylvania, narrowing its way to the GOP’s upper house, and won more House races than expected, reducing Republicans’ margins if they took that chamber. .

Goncharenko predicted that the GOP congressional base aligned with former President Trump, who has urged aid cuts to Ukraine, would be less influential after Tuesday’s election than previously thought.

,[Senate Republican Leader Leader] Mitch McConnell is one of the best in the world supporting the war for freedom and values ​​in Ukraine,” Goncharenko told The Hill in a phone call from Kyiv.

“But there’s a section of Republicans for some of them, they call themselves ‘maga people.’ I see these people will not be very influential in the US Congress and this means that the role of the United States in the international arena will not be challenged.

A worrying victory, Goncharenko said, was the election of Republican Senate nominee J.D. Vance in Ohio. Vance has said he supports reducing or eliminating US aid to Ukraine, and his supporters in Washington include Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who expressed support for a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine. voted against, which passed the Senate in May.

Vance replaces outgoing Sen. Rob Portman (R), who traveled to Kyiv last week with Sen. Chris Koons (D-Del) and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to underscore bipartisan US support.

Vance is “one of the results I’m unhappy with,” Goncharenko said.

While officials in the Biden administration have reportedly encouraged Zelensky to offer him the prospect of peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US battles Ukraine to reclaim Ukrainian territory from Russian occupation amid fierce military battles. The pause is not prompted, as the war moves into its ninth month.

The US has provided Ukraine with nearly $20 billion in military aid, and has committed at least $13 billion in economic aid, making Ukraine the number one military and financial donor among a coalition of aid-providing democracies. gives.

As more military equipment is delivered to Ukraine, including the recent arrival of advanced air defense systems, Ukrainians are coming under a new wave of Russian attacks targeting the country’s energy infrastructure, particularly in Kyiv. Electricity and water supplies are disrupted in major cities. ,

The Biden administration is rallying allies to support Ukraine with more aid to repair its energy infrastructure, and lawmakers are reportedly trying to secure an additional aid package to Ukraine during a lame-duck session of Congress. negotiating for.

Goncharenko said the current situation in Kyiv “is not pleasant, but we can live like this.”

Residents are collecting water and using power banks amid power cuts. Unseasonably warm temperatures are reducing the need to heat homes, but “sooner or later winter will come and it will [below freezing temperatures], It will be a challenge,” he said.

Goncharenko has close ties with his counterparts in Washington. He has previously testified before part of congressional lawmakers of the US Helsinki Commission on Alleged Russian War Crimes in Ukraine, and is part of a working group between Ukrainian and US lawmakers to identify alleged Russian war criminals for sanctions lists.

Promising for Ukraine, he said, is the re-election of the bipartisan co-chairs of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio).

“All the people I know personally, and who are extremely strong in defending values, are all re-elected,” he said.