US’s delay in passing Ukraine aid package has damaged its credibility: Polish foreign minister

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) – The delay in the US Congress in passing a crucial aid package for Ukraine has already damaged US credibility, Poland’s foreign minister said Thursday.

"Much damage to America's credibility has already been done, because this aid package has already been debated for months,” Radoslaw Sikorski told MSNBC in an interview.

“What this package -- or rather the failure to pass it -- makes us realize is that even if the US president wants to help his allies, he may not be able to do so," Sikorski added.

US President Joe Biden called last Tuesday for Republicans to bring a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to a vote. Some $60 billion of the military aid in the bill is earmarked for Ukraine.

Sikorski said that if the situation continues, America's allies, both in Europe and Asia, will begin to have doubts about their alliances and begin to hedge their bets by looking elsewhere.

He appealed to the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, to put the bill containing funds for Ukraine to a vote.

Sikorski also compared the current situation in world politics to that before World War Two.

"We cannot repeat the mistakes of those times, in Munich, trusting a dictator, his words, his piece of paper, instead of holding him accountable," he said, referring to the 1938 Munich Conference and Adolf Hitler.

​​​​​​​Sikorski and his British counterpart, David Cameron, last week reiterated their military support for Ukraine and called on the US Senate to pass legislation freeing funds to aid Ukraine militarily.