The American Coalition for Ukraine held its fourth Ukraine Action Summit this week since the escalation of the war between Russia and Ukraine in February, 2022, as Congress debates providing more funding for the war efforts.
From Saturday until Tuesday, supporters of Ukraine from 47 states, including Toledo’s Alona Matchenko, made their way to Washington to participate in a community action event where participants shared best practices for advocating for continued support for Ukraine.
This comes at a decisive moment in the Ukrainian war effort. Supplies for Ukrainian soldiers have dwindled as Congress has been caught in a stalemate over bills that have proposed billions of dollars in international aid to Ukraine and other countries throughout the world.
Ukraine Action Summit
Grassroots supporters of Ukraine practiced their appeal to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including Ukrainian-American Matchenko, the founder of Toledo Helps Ukraine. Ms. Matchenko was invited to the summit by another nonprofit, Gift of Grace Aid, a Columbus-based Ukraine-specific aid organization.
The theme of the spring Ukraine Action Summit was “People's lives are not politics.”
Ms. Matchenko clarified the theme in more detail, “Human lives should not be a currency for a political agenda.”
Those who attended the summit received two days of training before beginning to advocate for their cause. Ms. Matchenko said professionals from economic, religious, and environmental backgrounds explained how the war with Russia was “...affecting each and everyone globally.”
“It's not just a Ukrainian problem,” she said.
Later on in the week, summit participants met with office staff of U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R., Ohio) to try to convince the senator to change his stance on funding for the war in Ukraine.
On April 12, the New York Times published an op-ed by Mr. Vance titled “The Math on Ukraine Doesn’t Add Up,” explaining the case against further funding for Ukraine.
Mr. Vance argued that Ukraine is outmanned and outgunned and that Ukrainians should negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin before more lives and resources are lost.
“The Biden administration has no viable plan for the Ukrainians to win this war,” Mr. Vance wrote at the end of the article. “The sooner Americans confront this truth, the sooner we can fix this mess and broker for peace.”
Ambiguity exists in how or when the war in Ukraine will end, especially since Ukraine is dependent on a coalition of countries for its weapons and ammunition.
But Ms. Matchenko said, “It's never enough for terrorists,” referring to the Russian Federation as terrorists, and warning that Mr. Putin would not be satisfied if Ukraine ceded more land to Russia.
The Congressional Ukrainian Caucus
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo), co-chairman of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, which has 100 members, 21 Republicans and 79 Democrats, advocated on April 12 for funds to help Ukrainians “...win their own liberty.”
Framing the Ukrainian war as a war against the tyranny of Mr. Putin, comparing him to former Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin, Ms. Kaptur accused those in opposition to further funding for Ukraine of, “Aid[ing] and abet[ing] a real proven enemy of liberty.”
At the end of her time, she said her colleagues in opposition to the funding “...do not understand what it takes to maintain a free world.”
A picture of Alexei Navalny, the late Russian opposition leader to Mr. Putin who died in a Russian “Corrective Colony” ahead of this year’s elections, was set on an easel behind Ms. Kaptur, as she said detractors to the Ukraine funding bill were parroting Russian propaganda talking points.
Split in three
With hopes of securing funding for Ukraine, the initial bill was split into three separate parts that will be voted on individually: the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024, the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024, and the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024.
Ms. Kaptur’s office hoped the separation of the $95 billion in aid across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East into these more specific allocations might offer a quicker route for funding to make its way to Ukraine. The initial bill faced criticism on the right from Republicans who opposed international aid to Ukraine for fiscal reasons, and detractors on the progressive wing of the Democratic Party who opposed further aid to Israel.
Friday showed some promise for Ms. Matchenko’s cause as a preliminary step in the ratification process of the funding produced support in the House with 165 Democrats and 151 Republicans voting in favor of the general measure, 316 in favor and 94 against.
First Published April 19, 2024, 9:36 p.m.
