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Ukraine’s about the economy, stupid

Sep 21, 2023; Washington, DC, USA; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits President Joe Biden at the White House. Zelenskyy is slated to pitch to lawmakers and President Biden on continuing aid to Ukraine as it battles in an ongoing war from the invasion by Russia.

Sep 21, 2023; Washington, DC, USA; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits President Joe Biden at the White House. Zelenskyy is slated to pitch to lawmakers and President Biden on continuing aid to Ukraine as it battles in an ongoing war from the invasion by Russia.

USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters
Alex Kliment
By Alex KlimentOctober 26, 2023
Alex Kliment

Alex wears a few different caps and tips them all regularly. He writes for the GZERO Daily, works as a field correspondent for GZERO's nationally syndicated TV show GZERO WORLD WITH IAN BREMMER, and writes/directs/voices GZERO's award-winning puppet satire show PUPPET REGIME. Prior to joining GZERO, Alex worked as an analyst covering Russia and broader Emerging Markets for Eurasia Group. He has also written for the Financial Times from Washington, DC, and Sao Paulo Brazil. In his spare time, he makes short films and composes scores for long ones. He studied history and Slavic literature at Columbia and has a Master's from Johns Hopkins SAIS. He's a native New Yorker, a long-suffering Mets fan, and owns too many bicycles.

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Over the past 20 months, Joe Biden has framed US backing for Ukraine as, variously, a struggle for the future of freedom, as a deterrent against Chinese designs on Taiwan, and even as part of a fight to tame inflation.

But as polls show waning interest among US voters for sending weapons to Ukraine, the White House is taking a different tack: job creation?

The US has sent more than $40 billion in weapons to Kyiv, and last week the White House asked Congress for $60 billion more in Ukraine aid, about half of which would be for arms.

The Biden administration is now pushing lawmakers to make the case that this money boosts employment: After all, when Washington sends weapons to Ukraine, they’re made in US factories. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News that Ukraine aid had created jobs in 38 states.

Earlier this year, reports suggested that the US arms industry, which accounts for 10% of all US factory output, was having trouble finding enough labor to meet the surge in demand.

The White House’s shift in messaging comes as a new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows just 41% of Americans support sending weapons to Ukraine, down five points since May.
europeus-canadaaidrussia-ukraineeconomypoliticsus politicsjobsukraine

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