“He’s doomed to not be loved!” Never was there a more clear-cut case of “commentator’s curse” than when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was inaugurated on a sunny Kyiv day exactly five years ago. The TV narrator’s inference was that, after a landslide election victory with 73% of the vote, it could only go downhill for […]
Tag: Ukraine
Ukraine war “Unlikely to end anytime soon”
Russia is making “incremental progress” in Ukraine “with the potential for tactical breakthroughs along the front lines in areas such as Donetsk and Kharkiv,” Avril Haines, director of national intelligence, told Congress on Thursday, and that has Russian President Vladimir Putin thinking “domestic and the international trends are in his favor.” Testifying before the Senate […]
Senate passes $95 billion Natonal security bill
The White House issued a press release Tuesday night announcing that President Joe Biden would sign the National Security package bill that passed the Senate, into law on Wednesday. “Tonight, a bipartisan majority in the Senate joined the House to answer history’s call at this critical inflection point,” Biden said. “Congress has passed my legislation […]
Zelensky says Ukraine has chance with $60B Aid
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday thanked U.S. political leaders for approving an aid package to Ukraine over the weekend, saying the newfound aid will give the country a chance at “victory” as the country defends itself from Russia. “I think this support will really strengthen the armed forces, I pray, and we will have […]
Ukraine warns US; Pass aid pkg or it will be WW3
Ukraine’s prime minister has told the BBC there will be a “Third World War” if Ukraine loses its conflict with Russia, as he urged the US Congress to pass a long-stalled foreign aid bill. Denys Shmyhal expressed “careful optimism” that US lawmakers would pass the hotly contested measure, which has $61bn (£49bn) earmarked for Kyiv. […]
Czech Pres hints at ‘Boots on ground’ in Ukraine
There is nothing to prevent NATO from deploying its troops on Ukrainian soil to act in training and assistance roles, Czech Republic President Petr Pavel has said, as a thorny debate over alliance limitations regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine develops. Pavel—a former general who previously served as the chair of the NATO Military Committee—spoke […]
Zelenskyy takes dig at U.S. Congress over aid
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the West to swiftly and decisively aid Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s invasion while taking an apparent swipe at Congress for its continued stalemate over foreign assistance. “First, we all must do not something, but everything possible to defeat the aggressor,” Zelenskyy said at the Munich Security Conference […]
Ukraine aid bill passed by Senate after all-nighter
The Senate on Tuesday morning passed a bill that would appropriate $95 billion in fresh military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after several Republican senators spent eight hours delaying passage with speeches in opposition. On Feb. 4, the Senate unveiled the text of a bipartisan national security bill to provide aid to Ukraine during […]
Senate rams through $95B Ukraine funding bill
The Senate voted Thursday to advance a $95 billion emergency security spending bill with $60 billion to support the war in Ukraine — but without a bipartisan border security bill that ran into stiff opposition from Republicans. The move by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to swiftly bring the security spending package back to […]
Border bill looks dead in House; what’s plan B?
GOP supporters of aid to Ukraine are beginning to look for a Plan B as they come to grips with the reality that Senate legislation to boost border security and deal with a host of foreign crises is dead in the House. The virulent conservative opposition to the bill has led some Republican senators to […]
Border Bill released & facing wall of opposition
Senators on Sunday released a highly anticipated $118 billion package that pairs border enforcement policy with wartime aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, but it quickly ran into a wall of opposition from top House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson. The proposal could be the best chance for President Joe Biden to resupply […]
Ukraine & Zelensky have a corruption problem
With the war started by Russia entering its third year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also fighting on another front—corruption. On January 9, Zelensky’s defense minister, Rustem Umerov, said an audit had uncovered corruption connected to military procurement worth 10 billion hryvnia ($262 million) in only the four months he had been in post. His […]