U.S. lawmakers call for intelligence assessment on ending support for Ukraine

Photo: ‘Foreign Policy’

Lawmakers want the key intelligence chiefs to assess U.S. security risks if America stops providing weapons to Ukraine and Russian wins the war, ‘The Hill’ reports.

The lawmakers are pressing for a provision to be added to the National Defense Authorization Act.

President-elect Trump has said that Ukraine should “probably” prepare for less military aid coming from the U.S. when he takes office.

Under the title “Assessment of likely course of war in Ukraine,” lawmakers assign the Director of National Intelligence, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency to deliver a report assessing the course of Ukraine’s defensive war against Russia related to U.S. assistance and repercussions on America’s adversaries.

The details of the report should include the impact of the ability of Ukraine’s military to defend against Russian aggression if the U.S. continues or withholds military and economic support; and if the U.S. maintains or withdraws permission on the use of long-range provided missiles to strike deep into Russia.

Lawmakers also want intelligence chiefs to assess the effects of a potential defeat of Ukraine by Russia on U.S. national security interests, including potential further aggression from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

The report is required to be submitted in unclassified form but can have a classified annex, and delivered to the House and Senate intelligence committees as well as the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Relations and Appropriations panels.

Lawmakers call for the report to be filed within 90 days of the NDAA being signed into law – making it unclear how input from Biden’s intelligence chiefs will be considered in the report compared to Trump’s nominees to lead intelligence posts in his administration.

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