President Joe Biden warned Tuesday that Russia was banking on the United States abandoning Ukraine, as he promised President Volodymyr Zelensky he would assist Kyiv regardless of Republicans blocking new navy support.
Standing alongside Biden at a press convention on the White House, Zelensky pledged for his half that Ukraine would hold combating and stated it could be “insane” for Kyiv to surrender any territory to safe a peace deal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “is banking on the United States failing to deliver for Ukraine. We must, we must, we must prove him wrong,” stated Biden. He stated letting Ukraine lose would embolden Putin “and would-be aggressors everywhere.”
Biden burdened that he would “not walk away from Ukraine,” including that the United States would “continue to supply Ukraine with critical weapons and equipment as long as we can.”
But simply how lengthy the Biden administration can hold doing so is below query. Republicans in Congress refuse to go $60 billion in contemporary Ukraine support if Democrats don’t agree to main immigration reforms.
Zelensky, who spent the morning speaking to Republicans and Democrats in Congress, signaled cautious optimism that the stalled US support circulation will restart.
“I got the signals. They were more than positive. But we know that we have to separate words and particular results,” Zelensky stated.
‘Insane’
The Ukrainian chief additionally dismissed recommendations he might concede territory taken by Russia since its February 2022 invasion to transfer any ceasefire nearer.
“That’s insane, to be honest,” he stated, earlier than setting out plans to use Western support to obtain air superiority over Ukraine and to assault Russian naval property in 2024.
Biden stated he had permitted an additional $200 million in US navy support to tide Ukraine over for coming weeks, with the White House warning that funding might dry up by the tip of the yr with no deal in Congress.
The united entrance on the White House contrasted with rising division up on Capitol Hill, the place Republicans are usually not solely insisting on new insurance policies for the US-Mexico border however more and more questioning whether or not the warfare in opposition to Russian invasion ought to proceed.
As Moscow claimed contemporary battlefield advances and predicted any new help for Kyiv can be a “fiasco,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed little enthusiasm for approving Biden’s request regardless of his assembly with Zelensky.
“What the Biden administration seems to be asking for is billions of additional dollars with no appropriate oversight, no clear strategy to win, and none of the answers that I think the American people are owed,” Johnson stated.
Republican Senator JD Vance — who is shut to the get together’s chief and sure 2024 presidential candidate, Donald Trump — stated that Zelensky was “gross” for pressuring the Senate.
‘Deadlock’
The Kremlin echoed Republican arguments, scoffing on the impression of US assist.
“It is important for everyone to understand: the tens of billions of dollars pumped into Ukraine did not help it gain success on the battlefield,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated.
And Russia stated it was urgent forward on the bottom, simply as Ukraine’s freezing winter deepens and Moscow’s air assaults on Ukraine’s cities enhance.
In a blow felt by civilians behind the frontlines, Ukraine’s major cellular operator stated it had been paralyzed by a “powerful hacker attack.”
Washington insisted although that in actuality, Russia is paying a unprecedented value, with some 315,000 Russian troops killed or wounded in Ukraine because the warfare started, together with 13,000 since October.
Russian forces have additionally misplaced some 2,200 of the three,500 tanks that they had earlier than the beginning of the battle, in accordance to a declassified US intelligence evaluation shared with Congress.
But “Russia seems to believe that a military deadlock through the winter will drain Western support for Ukraine and ultimately give Russia the advantage despite Russian losses,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson stated.
As the United States ponders its future Ukraine coverage, Polish prime minister-designate Donald Tusk known as for “full mobilization on the part of the free world, the West, in support of Ukraine.”
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – AFP)
