The Plot Against Ukraine

On February 12th David Sacks hosted a Twitter space with Elon Musk, Vivek Ramsawamy, and Senators Johnson, Lee, and Vance. Over the course of one hour this confederacy of dunces outlined their opposition to the Senate defense package and their motives behind compromising the United States’ support for Ukraine.

One of the first questions raised by David Sacks and Elon Musk is whether or not the bill provides oversight for any of the funding allocated for Ukraine. That question suggests Ukraine would have access to and be responsible for managing the funding. That is not how the funding is structured and US senators voting on these bills should know that. The aid is provided mostly in the form of equipment and funds allocated by the bill would then be used to replenish weaponry for the US military from our defense sector.

Unsurprisingly, all three senators reinforced the claim the bill provides no accountability because they know that’s what their base wants to hear. Either Senators Johnson, Lee, and Vance are lying, haven’t read the bill, or are otherwise terribly misinformed but either way they are wrong. The bill explicitly provides funding for legal oversight and a quarterly review of our support to Ukraine is provided to Congress. Despite the old canard of “Ukrainian corruption,” there is nothing unaccountable or untraceable about the funding allocated to our allies.

The Twitter space provided an insight into the transactional logic behind these individuals’ foreign policy positions. The speakers in the space referred to money spent on aid to Ukraine as having a “negative return on investment.” The reality is this is a terrific investment in our national security with a tremendous ROI. For $40B the U.S. has rearmed our military with the newest and most sophisticated weapons our defense industry produces and with the equipment we donate to Ukraine we are facilitating the destruction of much of Russia’s conventional military and helping secure NATO without risking the lives of any US service members.

Mr. Ramsawany proposed a uniquely convoluted plan to tie military aid to Ukraine to successful implementation of “border metrics,” suggesting that aid be dispersed in small packages “as a means of leverage.” Vivek’s vision for peace in Ukraine is a slow-drip of ammunition and equipment over the next ten months, followed by blackmail and a coerced peace-agreement with a dictator during a second Trump term. Much like Trump’s plan to turn security aid into a loan, Vivek’s suggestion is debased from reality and displays a deep ignorance of how our security commitments work. Our partnerships and alliances are greater than the sum of their parts. There is no dollar amount that reflects the benefit we receive from our network of allies and by the same token, there is no way to measure how much damage we doing by abandoning Ukraine.