President Joe Biden and his administration have been pushing Congress to pass more funding to help Ukraine fight off Russia. The current allotment is set to run out at the end of the year. In a new plea to lawmakers, the president warned that not supporting the Ukrainian military could lead to a much broader war that would require US involvement.
On December 6, Biden addressed the country from the Roosevelt Room at the White House. He emphasized that Congress is duty-bound to prioritize the national security requirements of the United States and its allies. The president accused Republican legislators of potentially granting Putin a significant advantage by failing to assist Ukraine in its resistance efforts.
Biden asserted that Russia has engaged in war crimes by targeting Ukraine’s power grid in winter, abducting numerous children, and committing other heinous acts. He contended that if Putin succeeds in seizing Ukraine, it won’t be the end; rather, it will embolden further actions, posing a significant concern for the United States.
The president highlighted that if Putin were to launch an assault on a NATO ally, the United States would be compelled to intervene. He clarified that, as a NATO member, there is a commitment to defend every part of NATO territory, inevitably resulting in American forces engaging in combat against Russian troops.
Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty declares that any aggression against one NATO member will be considered an armed attack against all member states. This implies that if Putin were to invade Poland or any other NATO nation, all allied countries would collectively respond to the aggression, including deploying ground forces.
The article has been activated on a previous occasion. Following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the Allies invoked Article 5 for the first time in history and entered into a conflict. While Congress has expressed willingness to allocate additional funding for Ukraine, they have stipulated that it should be linked to measures related to border security.
