The fervor that once surrounded the Russo-Ukrainian War is growing stale and going out of style.

by Kolby LaMarche

On Wednesday, further indications of America’s evolving attitudes on its backing of Ukraine manifested.

11 protestors representing Code Pink were arrested in front of Senator Bernie Sanders’ D.C. office. The 11 apprehended were accompanied by other progressive activists who together marched across Capitol Hill to demand changes to U.S. influence in the Russo-Ukrainian War. 

According to their press release, Code Pink:

[Urges] President Biden and Congress to stop the flow of weapons to Ukraine, offer humanitarian assistance and safe refuge, renew lapsed arms control treaties” and “reject the imposition of massive sanctions that will harm the Russian people who, like us, want peace and security. 

And Code Pink wasn’t alone. 

Here, in Vermont, on the same day, more than 30 protestors with the Vermont Anti-War Coalition gathered on Church Street in front of Senator Sanders’ Burlington office.  

According to WCAX, protestors “[hoped] the billions spent abroad will instead be used to fight homelessness and the opiate crisis.”

Counter-protestors were, of course, present. Jeanette Bacevius, a spokesperson for Vermont Stands with Ukraine, said “I am all about the U.S. and other countries sending military, financial support and arms to Ukraine.”

How sweet of Jeanette and her crew. Here is a helpful link for them to enlist in Ukraine’s International Legion.

In July, I outlined my reasons for detaching American involvement in the Russo-Ukrianian War. It was, of course, published on my substack and in the Vermont Daily Chronicle. But I wanted to go further and test the waters of VTDigger readers.  

My experiment proved unsurprising. 

As punishment, Vermont neoliberals sent numerous emails discounting my opinion (too young, no military experience, uneducated). 

In response commentaries published in Digger, I was thrown under the label ‘Putin’s useful idiot’ with another commentator adding “Perhaps he will understand some of this when he grows up.” 

I was happy then to receive the criticisms and still am. In fact, I’m given even greater confidence by a changing tide in the U.S. on Ukraine.

According to a poll conducted by SSRS for CNN, in February 2022, 62% of Americans thought the U.S. ‘should do more’ to aid Ukraine. Today, that number has dropped to 48%.

Those who think the U.S. has done enough sat at just 38% in 2022. Today, 51% of Americans believe our nation has done enough.

When asked if Congress should authorize more funding to Ukraine, 55% of Americans responded no. 

And in the international community, earlier this month, the Polish government declared that it would stop all weapons exports to Ukraine. In a press conference, Polish President Andrzej Duda compared Ukraine to “a drowning person clinging to anything available”.

The fervor that once surrounded the Russo-Ukrainian War is growing stale and going out of style.

The political right has, mostly, been fueling this change in public opinion. However, this doesn’t discount, in any way, the new majority opinion as some leftist pundits would want you to believe. 

It is evident through the actions of the two left-leaning organizations that this, I believe, isn’t going to be an issue of great partisan divide.  

At a time when Americans are being brutally impacted by a dodgy economy, the issues of spending and governments’ domestic responsibilities are likely to transcend political boundaries.

Funds for Ukrainian aid in Congress and the White House are sitting at a total of just $7 billion, with the Pentagon’s accounts being completely dry. The hardened wall of sunflower support is slowly falling. 

The fate of Ukrainian aid has now become a feature of American politics. Will Republicans, being forced by their base, adopt an opposition stance to more aid? And will this become a sizeable issue in the 2024 elections?

Burning Sky is dedicated to providing critique and commentary on the issues of the day from an unapologetic perspective, fueling change in the heart of Vermont. Authored by Kolby LaMarche every Saturday.