American political circles are fully immersed in preparation for the November 8 midterm elections. The fact that this preparation is taking place amid the news about a successful counteroffensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces is an undeniable argument for the continued high level of support for Ukraine on the part of Washington. The positions of those who advocate giving Ukraine whatever it needs for victory will only grow stronger as the offensive proceeds.

Evidently, this will not change the result of the midterm elections, in which a third of the U.S. Senate seats and all of the House of Representatives seats will be contested. Yet this might somewhat tweak the rhetoric of the opponents of large-scale aid to Ukraine as such, which, as they say, cannot change the course of the war in Ukraine’s favor anyway, and make their voices—primarily in the Republican Party—not so loud. Likewise, it would help neutralize doubts that Ukraine does not deserve this level of American aid. While in Washington over the past week, I did not encounter a single politician or expert who believed that Ukraine should not be concerned at all about the results of the next midterm elections, but if the successful counteroffensive goes on, there will be fewer reasons to be concerned, according to American interlocutors.

We offer to your attention analysis by Alyona Getmanchuk, director of the New Europe Center, written after the advocacy visit to the US.

The paper was written within the research project “Strengthening analytical decision-making capabilities in the field of foreign policy with the help of civil society”, which is being implemented by the Centre for International Security with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Representation in Ukraine in 2022.