The two leaders will meet to discuss ‘Ukraine’s urgent needs’ in the war as Russia ramps up attacks
David Millward, US CORRESPONDENT
11 December 2023 •
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Washington on Tuesday for talks with Joe Biden to press the case for more war aid.
The White House said the trip, at Mr Biden’s invitation, is intended to “underscore the United States’ unshakeable commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine”.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, added: “As Russia ramps up its missile and drone strikes against Ukraine, the leaders will discuss Ukraine’s urgent needs and the vital importance of the United States’ continued support at this critical moment.”
Mr Zelensky’s visit comes at a time when billions of dollars in aid have been stalled on Capitol Hill. Last week, Senate Republicans blocked a bill which would provide aid for Ukraine and Israel.
They said they would not support the bill providing the aid unless the legislation included provisions for tightening security on its southern border.
Aid for Ukraine was part of a $106 billion emergency supplemental package requested by Mr Biden in October.
Last week, Mr Biden warned of the consequences of withholding aid. “This cannot wait,” he said.
“If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there,” Mr Biden said. Putin will attack a Nato ally, he predicted, and then “we’ll have something that we don’t seek and that we don’t have today: American troops fighting Russian troops”.
Rounding on Republicans, he added: “Frankly, I think it’s stunning that we’ve gotten to this point in the first place, where Republicans in Congress are willing to give Putin the greatest gift he could hope for.”
Last week, the US State Department was able to announce a more modest $175 million tranche of aid including HIMARS rockets, shells and missiles.
Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator, said on Sunday he expected the White House to get more involved in the negotiations.
However, speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Mr Murphy said the Republicans’ demands were unreasonable.
He accused them of “playing games with the security of the world” by linking the military aid to US border security measures.
Oleksandra Ustinova, a Ukrainian politician, said aid was critical for the country to sustain its military and other functions of government – including paying doctors’ salaries.
“It’s literally going to be a huge problem because if we do not survive as a state, we cannot win a war,” she said.
Mr Zelensky is also under increasing pressure at home, with polls showing his popularity declining.
Last week, the mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko told a Swiss news website that Mr Zelensky had become increasingly autocratic.
“People see who’s effective and who’s not. And there were and still are a lot of expectations. Zelensky is paying for mistakes he has made,” he said.
The last shot in the locker.
Everything depends on this trip.
Who could have imagined that a rabble as un-American as you could imagine could have succeeded in helping a fascist regime destroy a peaceful democracy; all supposedly in the name of making America great?
You could not make it up.
I would blame the media for that instead of a few politicians on both sides. Besides that, Ukraine is not dead yet. Try being optimistic for a change, it might open your eyes.
You would blame the media for reporting what the Republicans are doing, rather than blame those who are actually doing it?
“Ukraine is not dead yet” – very true, and I hope that Ukraine winds up victorious. But let’s be realistic – if the Republicans succeed in blocking aid to Ukraine, that would be quite detrimental to Ukraine’s chances for survival.
You might remember in 2014 and 2015 when those evil Republicans were trying to get Obama to send offensive weapons to Ukraine and he said “there is no military solution to Ukraine.” Ukraine didn’t get any offensive weapons until Trump sent Javelins. Those are facts, look it up.
Those Javelins had to be stored in western Ukraine, which is far from the frontlines. The Javelins were essentially provided to Ukraine under the condition that they not be used in the conflict zone.
Furthermore, trumpkov was actually reluctant to sell the missiles to Ukraine and did so only after he was persuaded it would be good for US business.
https://www.businessinsider.com/republicans-leaving-out-key-detail-trump-javelin-sale-to-ukraine-2019-11
Happening in parallel:
Republicans to meet allies of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán on ending Ukraine aid:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/10/hungary-viktor-orban-republicans-ukraine-aid
And yet here is the top 5 international priorities for the Heritage Foundation. Looks like you bought into more propaganda Scradge. Whoops.
https://www.heritage.org/europe/report/the-top-five-us-priorities-european-policy-after-russias-invasion-ukraine
Those “top five priorities” are:
“(1) deterring Russian aggression against NATO members, (2) reducing malign Chinese influence in Europe, (3) enhancing European energy security, (4) negotiating and ratifying an ambitious free trade area with Britain, and (5) ensuring that the U.S. and its European allies do not squander the progress and potential of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI).”
Says nothing about supporting Ukraine. And I saw nothing in there that conflicted with the Guardian article. So, it’s not clear what you’re calling “propaganda”.
The political mess that we’re in is thanks to the pink bubble our politicians have been living in for too long, as the slimy mafia tentacles came slithering into many crooks and crannies of our system, buying and extorting certain corrupt or stupid individuals to gain influence. We now see the result of mafia land’s efforts, not only in Budapest, but also in virtually every Western nation, including the United States. And millions of brainless morons are supporting this garbage for the sake of saving “family values” and MAGA, which is the biggest farce ever created, since America is already great! But, ironically, through MAGA, we’re reducing our great nation to be just another shithole that aligns itself with other shitholes.
Someone’s following Hitler’s playbook. “Make Germany Great Again” was in a Hitler speech from February 1940:
https://www.snopes.com/uploads/2016/03/hitler-slogan.jpg
Today, of course, he’s making it more obvious – calling his opponents “vermin”, targeting the “enemies within”, saying that migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” calling for “sweeping raids, giant camps and mass deportations”, etc.