OPINION — Amidst the ongoing debate in Congress over additional U.S. assistance to Ukraine, there is a way for President Biden to eliminate a significant obstacle to Ukraine’s success on the battlefield and at the same time build support for Ukraine in Congress, encourage business investment, and better inform the American public – all at zero cost.
What is this secret weapon? We must lift risk averse and counterproductive restrictions on travel to Ukraine by U.S. officials, members of Congress, and government contractors. In addition, State Department guidance, which currently warns against ANY travel to Ukraine, should be updated to provide more nuanced guidance considering actual conditions.
Imagine if during the London Blitz, the United States had prevented officials from visiting the United Kingdom and warned private citizens and businesses against any travel to the embattled nation. How would America have understood the facts on the ground, coordinated aid, and supported our ally with just a handful of officials largely confined to an embassy compound?
Penny Pritzker, the Biden’s Administrations Special Representative for Ukraine Reconstruction is encouraging American investment in Ukraine. USAID Director Samantha Powers is leading government efforts to support Ukraine’s medium and small businesses while also encouraging private sector investment.
Unfortunately, their efforts are undermined by contradictory policies which keep Americans from traveling to Ukraine.
In all of 2023, the were only 50,000 visits by Americans to Ukraine, less than half of the levels of 2021. Compare this with over 2,300,000 visits by Americans to Poland in the same period, 46 times more.
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State Department travel guidance lists all of Ukraine as a Level 4 risk – the same as North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, and others of that ilk. The fact is that most of the country is safe to visit. Kyiv, Odessa, L’viv, and other cities across the country are keeping calm and carrying on. Streets are full, restaurants are busy, schools are in session – Ukrainians are living their lives even though their country is at war.
As a result of the overly cautious guidance, CEO’s, business executives and potential investors and partners for Ukrainian business are deterred from vital engagement on the ground. Companies won’t let employees travel, and the U.S. presence is so thin as to create a real roadblock to assistance.
We need boots on the ground. Not soldiers, but a constellation of diplomats, civilian contractors, and business leaders to manage aid flowing into the country, optimize complex systems, conduct side-by-side training programs, maintain and repair equipment in country, monitor the handling of U.S. provided weapons systems and develop the business relationships needed to sustain Ukraine through the war and enable it to prosper after.
We have seen firsthand multiple examples of how the scarcity of Americans in country impedes the collective efforts to support Ukraine in its fight.
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During a recent discussion with a group of foreign volunteers helping in Ukraine, we were told that while the Ukrainian army is in desperate need of training and oversight, the U.S. Government had only a limited number of personnel in country available to assist. They told us that despite repeated efforts to reach out to U.S. officials in Kyiv to share insights and “lessons learned” into what they were seeing on the battlefield, the U.S. diplomatic mission rarely, if ever, responded to their requests for contact.
The consensus view that this was not because U.S. officials in country were callous or did not want to talk, but simply that the strict cap on the number of American officials and contractors allowed in country at any given time means the embassy remains understaffed and unable to perform many functions traditionally handled by a foreign diplomatic mission.
Furthermore, security restrictions which keep embassy personnel confined to the compound and select locations in Kyiv, exacerbates the problem. We have too few eyes and ears to provide vital context on what is happening across the country, to oversee the distribution and handling of sensitive equipment being provided to the Ukrainians, to engage with businesses, to meet with local officials, or to support American businesses and NGO’s.
On the business side, companies have repeatedly complained to us that dire threat warnings compel corporate leadership teams to deny company executives and personnel the ability to visit Ukraine and promote business. Insurance companies are unwilling to provide coverage to representatives of U.S. firms because U.S. threat levels and travel warnings are so dire.
Meanwhile, other foreign governments do not have the same restrictions and foreign government officials and business leaders are able to meet with Ukrainian officials and business partners, secure lucrative contracts and establish a foothold in a European market that promises to be highly lucrative in the future. The UK’s guidance on travel, for example, is more nuanced and reflects that different regions carry different risk levels.
In Ukrainian eyes, future business will go to those that are present in their hour of need. One can’t hope to understand reality, forge relationships, do deals, or effectively monitor aid and supplies while standing on the sidelines. Borrowing a line from the old New York State lotto “You Gotta Be In It, To Win It” – Americans are not “In It” due to current U.S. Government policies and travel warnings.
The press does not help. Eager for dramatic shots which highlight Russia’s targeting of civilian infrastructure with drones, cruise missiles, and hypersonic weapons, they convey an image of Ukraine in ruins – too dangerous for travel, while most of Ukraine is surprisingly quiet and normal. Risks away from the front really amount to a wrong place wrong time equation. To be honest, we’ve felt more at risk in some American cities than while in Ukraine.
Statistics back us up. Since the start of the war, no American officials or civilians have been killed away from the front lines. The odds for someone of any nationality being injured from Russian attack are exceedingly low, and certainly do not justify “do not travel” warnings for the entire country. We should be embarrassed that as Ukrainians go to work, take their children to parks, visit relatives and refuse to be terrorized by Moscow’s brutal aggression against their country – American guidance treats all of Ukraine as occupied or as on the front line.
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Even where Russia is attacking with drones and missiles, Ukrainian air defenses are exceedingly good. Most Russian munitions are shot down or electronically disabled before reaching their targets. The overall interception rate has averaged 80 percent, and often reaches 90 percent.
Part of this is due to the stellar success of Western air defense systems – Patriots from the U.S., NASAMS from Norway, Sea Sparrows from the UK, and Gepard’s from Germany have performed brilliantly. President Putin’s boasts about unstoppable Russian hypersonic missiles have been shot down as easily as a Chinese balloon.
But huge credit must be given to Ukraine’s air defense forces. Through skill, innovation, and tireless vigilance, Ukrainian teams across the land have downed just about everything Russia has thrown at them to keep the lights on and the factories running.
As part of our work to try and educate Americans about the realities of the situation in Ukraine, we have engaged in public talks, both in Washington and outside the Beltway. During these events, attendees tell us that while they are not against providing Ukraine with much needed assistance, they want to make sure that the aid provided would not be abused or misused. But the deficit of Americans in country impedes the oversight needed to prevent exactly that.
A careful review of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD/OIG) 2023 report critical of how military assistance is monitored, reveals that personnel limitations and restricted access to Ukraine limit the ability to conduct proper inventories. The report concluded that in‑person monitoring of defense equipment was degraded because the DoD had a limited number of U.S. personnel in country.
Why the restrictions?
One reason has been a fear that if an American were injured or killed by a Russian airstrike or drone attack, it might damage domestic support for engagement. We believe this stance demeans the courage of Americans and the willingness to accept more risks to do the right thing.
Another reason for the restrictions may be message control.
Naturally, the White House, the National Security Council and the U.S. Embassy have been working hard to shape the narrative of the war to preserve domestic support. But with political opposition growing and an aid package stalled, this strategy is clearly not working.
A third reason we have heard some U.S. officials cite for limiting the number of U.S. personnel in Ukraine is Washington’s fear of “crossing” one of Vladimir Putin’s “Red Lines” and triggering a wider conflict that might drag the U.S. into a direct war with Russia.
Of course, the President himself has warned that a failure to provide assistance to Ukraine comes with the same risk and Washington should never allow Moscow or any other foreign government to dictate to the American people how many Americans can travel to, or work in, an allied country that is requesting American support and assistance.
We believe the more Americans that travel to Ukraine – Congressmen, staffers, civil servants, businessmen, and NGO’s, the more we will see the courage, determination, and shared values of the Ukrainian people. You cannot go there without returning changed and changed for the better.
Of course, travel to Ukraine entails risk, but less than perceived and the risks that do exist can be mitigated with common sense measures. We argue that Americans on vacation visit far more dangerous places every day in search of sun and margaritas.
What can we do?
First, the State Department should issue more realistic and nuanced guidance based on actual risk data, not subjectivity. The whole country should not be painted with the same negative brush.
Second, the caps on USG personnel in country at any given time should be raised, with particular encouragement for Congressmen, Governors, and Congressional staffers from both parties to visit. They need to better understand what they are voting on.
Third, our efforts to support Ukraine’s economy with U.S. business engagement should be paired with concrete steps to actually encourage and facilitate business travel.
Let our people go to Ukraine and we will enhance our aid to the nation, boost Ukrainian morale, and better make the case that this is a critical fight for America’s future.
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