UNITED STATES: The Progressive Caucus claimed that the message was being misinterpreted as being in line with the Republican party’s growing resistance to continuing to provide help to Kyiv.
It was written “months ago,” according to chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, and staff members distributed it before it had been “vetted.”
Before the US midterm elections later this month, the memo prompted a backlash inside the party.
30 of Vice President Biden’s Democratic House colleagues signed the letter to the White House in June, and it was made public on Monday.
The Biden administration, which has often asserted that Moscow is not interested in diplomacy, was perceived as being undermined by its demand that the US engage in direct negotiations with Russia.
Officials from the White House responded that diplomacy is only feasible when all parties are willing to negotiate, which is not the case at the moment.
About Russian President Vladimir Putin, Massachusetts Democratic congressman Jake Auchincloss criticized the letter as “an olive branch to a war criminal who’s losing his war.”
Ruben Gallego, a different member of the Progressive Caucus, retorted, “Russia doesn’t acknowledge diplomacy, only strength.”
He continued, “If we want Ukraine to continue as a free and democratic country that it is, we must support their fight.”
Congresswoman Jayapal from Washington state stated on Tuesday that she remained in favor of ending the war “with diplomacy.”
“Republicans, intend to stop providing financial and military support for Ukraine,” she added.
Republican congressman Kevin McCarthy issued a warning earlier this month, saying that there won’t be a “blank cheque” for Ukraine if his party wins in November.
Other signatories to the letter included Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin, who has assumed the lead in the Democrats’ investigations of the former president Donald Trump, and New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a prominent member of the party’s socialist wing.
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