Sen. McConnell predicts Ukraine aid OK

WASHINGTON — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said after a visit to Kyiv that he expects the chamber to pass a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine with broad bipartisan backing on Wednesday.

McConnell, speaking to reporters on a call from Sweden, made the pledge after leading a group of Republican senators on Saturday to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called for swift passage of the aid.

“What I assured him — as this is an all-Republican delegation — is that support for Ukraine and this war against the Russians is bipartisan,” McConnell said Sunday, including from “an overwhelming majority of Republicans.”

The Republican leader has been an early backer of Ukraine, urging Dec. 6 for the U.S. to send Ukraine whatever arms the country needs to defend itself.

That puts him at odds with more isolationist members of the GOP, including fellow Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who held up the Ukraine aid last week and argues it spends too much at a time of high inflation.

“There have always been isolationist voices in the Republican Party,” McConnell said. “I think one of the lessons we learned in World War II is not standing up to aggression early is a huge mistake.”

McConnell also said the U.S. should back the expansion of NATO to include Sweden and Finland if they choose to join, and he called on President Joe Biden to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

His message to Zelenskyy was that support for Ukraine remains strong, despite some resistance in his own party.

“This naked aggression must not stand,” McConnell said. Russia won’t stop at war with Ukraine if it succeeds there, he said.

McConnell indicated he’s prepared to back Ukraine in the long run, acknowledging the war “could drag on.”

“My definition of victory is whatever Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians conclude is a satisfactory end,” he said.

McConnell said it’s impossible to know how long the latest package will last and when another might be needed, but he pushed back on critics in the GOP who have argued war spending should not take precedence over domestic problems.

McConnell blamed inflation on Democrats spending an extra $2 trillion last year, not war spending.

“We’re talking about $40 billion, not $2 trillion,” he said.