A cross-party group of US senators have introduced a bill which seeks to empower President Joe Biden to send more military aid to Ukraine. The plan is to “streamline the President’s current authority to lend the defense articles” to Kiev with the stated goal of protecting Ukrainian civilians from supposed Russian aggression.
The bill, filed on Wednesday, is named “Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act,” in an apparent nod to the multibillion-dollar World War II-era program of military assistance the US provided to Allied nations to help them fight against the Axis.
After the United Kingdom, Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union was the second-largest recipient of the aid. It allowed Moscow to close some crucial gaps that the Red Army had, like a shortage of trucks and food, and helped it to fight back against invading Nazi forces. The US benefited from the scheme both by damaging a common enemy in Europe and by giving its depressed economy a shot in the arm through government contracts.
Unlike some other US politicians, the senators didn’t outrightly compare Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler, but the Russian president apparently loomed large in their considerations. Three of the four sponsors of the bill quoted in their joint statement mentioned him by name, with Roger Wicker accusing Putin of “shameless and illegal aggression” in Ukraine.