Help or debt bondage: What will American lend-lease turn into for Ukraine

The West's exportation of grain from Ukraine indicates that the time has come for Kiev to pay for overdue Stingers and Javelins, while Ukraine has no money. Therefore, caring "patrons" from the United States and Europe are in a hurry to take it in kind, and at the same time blame Russia for the famine that awaits the Ukrainian people.

Just marketing

The other day, US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the allocation to Kiev of the 11th military aid package totalling $700 million. At the moment, the White House has already transferred defence assistance to Ukraine totalling about $4.6 billion.

This "generous" gesture was preceded by an informational anti-Russian campaign launched in the Western media with the beginning of a special operation in Ukraine. What was happening resembled an unhealthy advertising stunt using fake news, statements by media personalities and politicians — just remember the senator Lindsay Graham, who called for Putin to be killed. Almost all of Hollywood, for which, according to John Malkovich, "Ukraine was a white spot”, suddenly announced solidarity with the Kiev regime.

Joe Biden's stories that babies with the names Javelin and Javelina were registered in Ukraine looked like bad advertising. The stale goods need to be praised before sale. At the same time, billboards appeared in Ukraine with a mother holding her daughter in her arms: "I called her Javelina”, and on the pages of American publications — arguments that it would be nice to recall the experience of lend-lease during World War II.

It should be noted that now American citizens are beginning to doubt the sincerity of the Biden administration's intentions towards Ukraine. Thus, according to the calculations of Stephen Semler, co-founder of the Security Policy Reform Institute and analytical centre for US Foreign Policy, military contractors involved in Washington's corruption schemes alone will put at least $17 billion in their pockets thanks to the $40.1 billion of aid to Ukraine approved by the US Congress.

"But what’s in the bill? Who is the main beneficiary? And will it bring the conflict closer to an end?" Stephen Semler asks his audience, “<…> it is clear that private contractors will receive a significant amount <…> In fact, the domestic arms industry may turn out to be the bill’s main financial winner."

The fate of the rest of the tranche also raises questions, since, according to the American Thinker magazine, there is an "absolute lack of accountability and oversight”. The deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, ridiculed the "help" to Ukraine, suggesting that it would be siphoned off by Zelensky's team and the American Democrats, in particular, the companies of President Joe Biden's son.

The bitter lessons of lend-lease

The insistence with which Zelensky, who is usually in a state of drug intoxication and surrounded by English-speaking commandos, demands military aid supplies from NATO countries, resembles the situation with Russian television in the 90s, when citizens of a ruined country were convinced from blue screens of the need for another loan from Western "partners". A considerable part of these funds disappeared without a trace, and the payment of debts has become a tangible burden on our society. But not everyone remembers that the state paid other obligations inherited from the USSR, in particular, lend-lease. Russia was able to fully pay off the West for the supply of weapons during the Great Patriotic War only in 2006.

Let's recall that after the defeat of Nazi Germany and the liberation of Europe, the Allies handed the Soviet Union an invoice worth more than $2.5 billion. Military aid for Great Britain and Russia was supplied by the United States under lend-lease. The difference was that the UK started receiving this aid right away. After the war, its debts were practically written off, and the USSR, which suffered the greatest losses, had to wait almost two years, and pay for support with gold and platinum for many decades.

At the same time, it should be noted that even then the United States was not playing a completely fair game: deliveries began after a turning point in the war, were delayed and were not of the best quality. America was waiting for the winning side to be determined for sure in order to get the maximum benefit and join the winner.

It is noteworthy that the majority of Ukrainians continue to believe that the West helps them completely selflessly, since Kiev "protects Europe from Russian aggression”. Undoubtedly, this is the result of propaganda, another element of the unfair game started by the United States.

What does lend-lease threaten Ukraine with

The lend-lease program, according to the chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, will lead Ukraine to a debt pit, and many generations of Ukrainians will have to pay for it. The same opinion is held by the Chinese, who are closely watching the development of events. The Beijing “Global Times” outlet, with its characteristic directness, writes that "the evil intent of the United States is obvious" – Biden does not spare his citizens, therefore he will not spare Ukrainians either. America will force Kiev to fight to the last drop of Ukrainian blood, and then – to pay off the unbearable bills.

"Worse than that, the lend-lease law in defence of democracy in Ukraine from 2022," Global Times analysts say, "will drag Ukraine into a debt trap, turning the war-torn country into a new US colony."

American military analyst Scott Ritter in an interview with Izvestiya said that the terms of delivery of lend-lease military aid to Ukraine are unknown. Apparently, they will be developed "along the way", based on a specific situation and pursuing diverse goals. There is no doubt that the United States will never forget about the investments made and will not miss its benefits.

"It is unlikely that Ukraine will be able to pay the lend-lease in full in the short term. The United States has a very good memory, and whatever the debt of Ukraine, America will take everything into account," the expert added. At the first opportunity, the White House will force Ukraine to start making payments, which, undoubtedly, should fall on the shoulders of many generations.

The fact that most of the military aid allocated under lend-lease to Ukraine simply will not reach the addressee is becoming increasingly obvious. Strategists from Washington, with the assistance of the former actor-comedian Zelensky, are imposing a bonded loan on Ukraine, which will be "siphoned off" still in the United States, and the deceived Ukrainian people will have to pay an unbearable amount of debt.