The Post-standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) on how House Republicans must not abandon Ukraine:

House Speaker Mike Johnson and his Republican colleagues left Washington without voting on $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and Taiwan.

Roughly $60 billion of that money would go to provide Ukraine with ammunition and other military equipment (and replenish U.S. stockpiles of materiel lent to our allies) as its war to fend off Russia’s invading army approaches the two-year anniversary.

The aid bill passed the Senate 70-29 — an extraordinary level of bipartisan support. Johnson, however, would not put it up for a vote in the House and sent everyone home for a two-week recess.

Republicans are playing with fire by withholding this critical aid from Ukraine.

They are betraying an ally fighting to maintain its freedom and its territorial integrity from an aggressor. They are allowing Russian leader Vladimir Putin to continue his immoral war on civilians and rewarding him for having the patience to wait out the West’s resolve. They are emboldening Putin to threaten our NATO allies in Europe, whom we are treaty-bound to defend. Finally, they are undercutting U.S. credibility on the world stage by breaking our commitment to Ukraine.

There was a time when politics ended at the water’s edge — meaning political figures rose above partisanship when our nation’s foreign policy interests were at stake. That is no longer the case.

The Republican Party’s likely presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, told a dubious story about a conversation with a NATO ally whose financial support he deemed insufficient. Trump explicitly invited Russia “to do whatever the hell it wants” with European countries that don’t meet their defense spending targets. That chilled our allies and cheered our adversaries. Why did America fight two hot wars and one cold one in Europe, at an enormous cost of blood and treasure, if only to abandon the U.s.led world order that has kept relative peace in Europe for 80 years?

Two Republican criticisms of sending more aid to Ukraine are factually incorrect:

• “U.S. military aid to Ukraine is a handout.” Actually, 90% of it goes to U.S. manufacturers and suppliers of military equipment, some of which hasn’t been upgraded in years. That new equipment stays here to replace the older stuff from stockpiles we’re sending to Ukraine.

• “Europe is not pulling its weight.” As a percentage of GDP, support for Ukraine from European countries far exceeds that of the United States. In currency terms, European commitments to Ukraine as of January totaled 75 billion euros, compared to the equivalent of 67 billion euros from the United States.

Johnson continues to demand changes in U.S. border policy be tied to Ukraine aid. The speaker had his chance. The bipartisan Senate bill that passed earlier this month contained both. But Trump didn’t want the bill to pass so Johnson didn’t put it up for a vote, squandering his leverage on the issue . ...