Ukraine Lawmaker Pleased with Dem Performance, Says Early Results from Midterms ‘very good’ for Us November 9, 2022 | Frank Webster
The relatively strong showing Democrats made in the midterm elections is arguably bad news for America, but for Oleksiy Goncharenko, who is part of the European Solidarity Party in Ukraine, the news is good for his country, as the hemorrhaging of U.S. money the territory has enjoyed will hopefully continue in his eyes, though it is perhaps too early to say which party will ultimately control Congress in January or if it will simply be gridlock.
No matter to Goncharenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, who suggested that a potential reduction in active U.S. involvement in Ukraine’s war effort is somehow more of a threat to their existence than the forces of the country that invaded them.
“Speaking about the results from Ukraine perspective, it is clear that for Ukraine the danger was in those people, you can call them isolationist or far-right people, who were saying, ‘Let’s not care about Ukraine, it’s too far from us’… these people, I think they’re not right and American voters decided like this,” Goncharenko told The Hill in a phone interview done from Kyiv.
He not only said the early results of the midterm elections is “very good for Ukraine,” Goncharenko also praised Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for his support of Ukraine.
“Mitch McConnell (K.Y.) is one of the best in the world supporting war for values and freedom in Ukraine,” he said.
The Ukrainian lawmaker then bashed Republicans by saying that some are self-described “MAGA people,” suggesting that he’s swallowed the divisive Democrat pill being shoved down everyone’s throat.
“But there is a part of Republicans for some of them, they call themselves ‘MAGA people,’ they are using some of this rhetoric that, ‘we don’t need to care about something happening far away from the U.S.’ I see that these people will not be too influential in the U.S. Congress and that means the role of the United States in the international arena will not be challenged,” he asserted.
Goncharenko says he’s a little worried about the election of Republican J.D. Vance to the U.S. Senate for Ohio, which means it’s probably a good thing for America. Vance, along with many other supporters including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), voted against a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine, but it was not enough to keep it from passing the Senate in May.
Vance is “one of the results I am unhappy with,” Goncharenko said.
But as the Man in Black tells Inigo in “The Princess Bride,” perhaps the Ukrainian MP should “Get used to disappointment.”
The U.S. has sent more than $54 billion in aid to Ukraine since the onset of the Russia/Ukraine war in February of this year, according to The New York Times.
As in past wars, the U.S. is the number one donor among a coalition of allies helping the war-torn country.
Although temperatures in Ukraine are unseasonably warm, winter is coming. Goncharenko told the outlet that conditions in the populous capital city are “not pleasant, but we can live like this.” However, he adds, “sooner or later the winter will come and it will be [below freezing temperatures]. That will be a challenge.”
Goncharenko expressed relief at the reelection of the bipartisan co- chairs of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R- PA) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH).
“All those people who I know personally, and who are extremely strong in defending of values, all of them are reelected,” he said.
