President Joe Biden pleaded with Republicans on Wednesday for a fresh infusion of military aid for Ukraine, warning that a victory for Russia over Ukraine would leave Moscow in position to attack NATO allies and could draw U.S. troops into a war.

Biden spoke as the United States planned to announce $175 million in additional Ukraine aid from its dwindling supply of money for Kyiv. He signaled a willingness to make significant changes to U.S. migration policy along the border with Mexico to try to draw Republican support.

“If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there,” Biden said. Putin will attack a NATO ally, he predicted, and then “we’ll have something that we don’t seek and that we don’t have today: American troops fighting Russian troops,” Biden said.

“We can’t let Putin win,” he said, prompting an angry reaction from Moscow.

  • pan_troglodytes@programming.dev
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    7 months ago

    imagine what that 44 billion could have bought if spent in America on Americans, instead of in Ukraine for Ukrainians…

    • SCB@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      We have enough money to do both. This spending comes from resources already appropriated for the defense department, and soft power is not something to undervalue.

    • blunderworld@lemmy.ca
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      7 months ago

      Pretty short sighted thinking. You think the global economy will improve if Putin gets his way? He’s not exactly a friend to America last I checked.

      • JustZ@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        You can keep my $133, I’d rather have Ukraine be a functioning democracy instead of just another shit hole where the guy in charge just decides how long he wants to be in charge for.

    • Lysol@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      You realize how expensive it would have been if the US would have fought a war against Russia themselves? Right now, Ukraine is defeating one of the top enemies of the US for the US.

      • Techmaster@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        No, they’re doing it for themselves. The US is just a beneficiary of their efforts.

        • Lysol@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Poor choice of words by me, but it was exactly my point. Of course they are fighting for themselves, but the US giving Ukraine weapons is the US fighting Russia without risking any of their own troops. It couldn’t get cheaper than this to fight Russia.

          • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Money well spent; it’s a case where the cynics and idealists can both agree and be correct in their own right. We are destroying Russian power (soft and otherwise) by proxy on a shoestring budget, and we are standing by a sovereign ally at their greatest need.

            • Lysol@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Exactly. I don’t think people realize that, although it sounds like Ukraine gets a shitload of money, it’s still probably pennies compared to the cost of being in an actual war.

    • JustMy2c@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      Imagine if the us economy needs those arms race companies more as it needs the old equipment.

      They’re not spending it outside the US…

    • theodewere@kbin.social
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      7 months ago

      it couldn’t have killed any more Russians than it did, and more dead Russians is what America needs right now…