�WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th November, 2022) The prospects for peace in Ukraine will improve if Republicans control the House of Representatives, former Virginia State Senator Richard Black told Sputnik.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is expected to become the House speaker in the next term of Congress with the Republicans projected to win a narrow majority after Tuesday's midterms. He is reportedly moving quickly to secure enough votes in the Republican Party to be nominated, however, the Republican Freedom Caucus might stand in his way, media reported.
"If (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi loses control of the House - in other words, she's not the speaker of the house - she is a very powerful, bloodthirsty voice for war, and so if the Republicans get control, regardless of who ends up being the speaker, then it will be tremendously better (for) the cause of peace," Black said.
McCarthy has previously said that Republicans will not provide Ukraine with limitless funding if Republicans take control of the House.
"I think that his comment where he said that Ukraine will not get a blank check in the future, I think he was sort of campaigning for the support of these conservatives (in the Republican party)," Black said. "McCarthy seems to be talking as though he was receptive to do some cuts to the Ukraine funding."
US media reported on Wednesday that the United States and other allies believe Ukraine will not be able to achieve all of its goals on the battlefield and is nudging Kiev to enter peace talks with Russia this winter to resolve the ongoing conflict.
Black said the Biden administration's appearance of encouraging negotiations between Ukraine and Russia is political posturing, but he did not rule out that US lawmakers may be able to start making some changes towards peace.
"I think there will be some talk of negotiations that will be totally an illusion, just a smokescreen, but at the same time there are other elements within the Republican Party, and at some point, there may be some elements of the Democrat party, that would start to oppose the war," Black said.
Black did point out that the lack of the anticipated red wave in the midterm elections was a setback for the cause of peace in Ukraine and does not expect the new Congress to have much impact on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
"I don't know whether there will be enough pressure on Biden to cause him to actually take some action," Black said. "I certainly wish that there was more pressure from Europe, but right now they seem to be almost under the total dominance of the United States."
The Europeans, Black added, should have a little bit more backbone to dictate what happens in Ukraine.
Black said he also believes Germany should show more independence from the United States, adding that they allowed the Nord Stream pipelines to be sabotaged by the United Kingdom in close coordination with the White House.
Black also said former President Donald Trump would have been able to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin to address his concerns related to Ukraine in order to avoid a conflict, Black said.
