The Cost of Chaos: Why Did Putin Wanna War in Afghanistan Enter the Soviet Union? Commentary on Putin’s 1974 Presidential Letter to Putin

Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling led US national security adviser Jake Sullivan to warn of “catastrophic consequences” late last month should Moscow move to use nuclear weapons – and Putin has only further ratcheted up his rhetoric since.

Editor’s Note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a vice president at New America, and a professor of practice at Arizona State University. Bergen is the author of “The Cost of Chaos: The Trump Administration and the World.” The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN.

Putin saw the war in Ukraine as a key to his dream to Make Russia Great Again. Instead, Russia can now no longer pretend to be a great power as it is unable to defeat an enemy on its own borders.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Putin lost Lyman just as he was publicly declaring that the Donetsk region – in which Lyman sits – was now annexed by Russia.

The new phase is found not only on the battlefield. Russian invasion is having a harsh effect on leaders around the world. Higher energy and food prices, in part generated by tough sanctions on Moscow, have caused trouble for politicians in Europe and the United States.

In spite of his allies expressing concern, and hundreds of thousands of citizens fleeing partial mobilize, an increasingly isolated Putin has once again taken to making speeches that offer his distorted view of history.

His revisionist account describes his reasoning for the war in Ukraine, which he believes has always been a part of Russia even though its independence from the Soviet Union was three decades ago.

When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, they planned to install a puppet government and get out of the country as soon as it was feasible, as explained in a recent, authoritative book about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, “Afghan Crucible” by historian Elisabeth Leake.

During the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, the US was initially reluctant to escalate its support for the Afghan resistance, fearing a wider conflict with the Soviet Union. The soviets were forced to leave Afghanistan three years later, after the CIA armaged the Afghans with Stinger missiles, which ended their total air superiority.

The genius of the crisis in Ukraine: The case for resolving the first and second world wars, and the legacy of the collapse of the Soviet Union

The war in Ukraine entered 2023 with its deadliest attack yet on Russian troops – and an attempt by Moscow to shift the bulk of blame onto its own dead soldiers.

The satellite-guided HIMARS — short for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System — currently have a range of 80 kilometers. Repeated Ukrainian pleas have failed to convince the authorities to authorize a longer-range 300- kilometer hi-tech vehicle. (The Biden administration has worried that the longer-range system could expand the war beyond Ukraine’s frontiers and lead to an escalation of hostilities.)

Putin knows that the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 happened because of the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan.

The Romanov monarchy was weakened by the Russian loss in the Tokugawa shogunate in 1905. Czar Nicholas II’s feckless leadership during the First World War then precipitated the Russian Revolution in 1917. Subsequently, much of the Romanov family was killed by a Bolshevik firing squad.

More than seven months into the war, the “genius” myth has unraveled. During the past two weeks, at least 200,000 Russian men have voted with their feet to flee Putin’s partial mobilization order. They are aware that the war is a bloodbath for Russia.

Putin is an example of how delusions and illusions of one individual can be allowed to shape events without any critical challenge. Autocrats who put their cronies into key positions, control the media to crowd out discordant voices … are able to command their subordinates to follow the most foolish orders.”

The first and second times that the Russian empire has been dissolved, it was as a result of the First World War and the fall of the Soviet Union.

PRESIDENT BIDDEN’S RECENT MASSIVE COMMENTARY RELATIONS AND THE FACTORY CALIBRATED IN THE US SCUBA SYSTEM

Biden’s blunt assessment caught several senior US officials by surprise, largely due to that lack of any new intelligence to drive them and the grim language Biden deployed.

Biden’s remarks serve as a window into a very real, very ongoing discussion inside his administration as the seek to calibrate the response to that environment.

While most of what Biden says at the fundraisers is familiar, he has made comments previously that went beyond his remarks to larger audiences. It was a fundraiser in Maryland where Biden declared Trump-aligned Republicans “semi-fascist” and where he said the views of the Catholic Church on abortion had changed.

His remarks are usually only slotted for 10 minutes but in the past he has stretched to half an hour or more, expounding on various topics. While Biden answered some questions from the donors, reporters were ushered out.

Aides in Washington first got a glimpse of Biden’s remarks through news reports and dispatches from the press pool in the room.

The Cuban Missile Crisis is just a few days away, making Biden’s references noteworthy, but also because it was the last time a US president spoke so much about the risks of a possible catastrophe.

The President’s use of Armageddon served to illustrate that point – there’s no escalation ladder when it comes to nuclear weapons, tactical or otherwise. A cascading response only has one outcome if there is any move in that direction.

Several officials pointed out that Putin’s nuclear saber rattling isn’t new, and US officials have been grappling with the threats and the potential for their use since the first days of the war.

One official characterized the speech as “insane,” and while that bolstered the US view of Russian weakness and isolation, it also further increased concern about Putin’s willingness to escalate beyond the level of a rational actor.

White House officials decided not to say anything publicly Thursday night, and there are no plans to address the remarks in isolation so far on Friday morning. If Biden wants to address it himself, it will be apparent when he departs for his Maryland event later in the morning, one official said.

More broadly, the most important element remains that US officials have seen no change in posture or specific intelligence that raises the threat level above where it has been.

There have been direct communications to Moscow in the last several weeks detailing the scale of the US response should Putin decide to go down that path. The details are closely held, and won’t change soon.

U.S. missile and drone strikes prompt civilian casualties in the capital of Kiev after the weekend Kerch Strahl Bridge explosion: CNN views from Ukraine

Editor’s Note: Michael Bociurkiw (@WorldAffairsPro) is a global affairs analyst. He is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and was a spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He writes for CNN Opinion. The opinions in this commentary are of his own. CNN has more opinion.

Even amid irrepressible jubilation here in Ukraine in the aftermath of a massive explosion that hit the hugely strategic and symbolic Kerch Straight bridge over the weekend, fears of retaliation by the Kremlin were never far away.

Over the last 10 days, Russia has launched a new front with long-range missile and drone strikes at civilian targets in the capital Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

There was a video on social media that shows hits close to the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, a short walk from the Presidential Office Building. Five people were killed as a result of strikes on the capital, according to Ukrainian officials.

The area around my office in Odesa was quiet after an air raid, with reports of missiles and drones being shot down. At this time of day, nearby restaurants would be packed with customers and chatter of plans for upcoming weddings and parties.

Just a few days ago, Zaporizhzhia, a southeastern city near the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, was hit by a series of strikes on apartment buildings. At least 17 people were killed and several dozens injured.

In a video filmed outside his office Monday, a defiant President Volodymyr Zelensky said it appeared many of the 100 or so missile strikes across Ukraine were aimed at the country’s energy infrastructure. At least 11 important infrastructure facilities in eight regions and the capital have been damaged; some provinces are without power, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

After Russian forces neared the capital, some media outlets moved their operations to underground bomb shelters. A small group of people sang patriotic Ukrainian songs on the platform of a metro station that was turned into a shelter.

Indeed, millions of people in cities across Ukraine will be spending most of the day in bomb shelters, at the urging of officials, while businesses have been asked to shift work online as much as possible.

With so many asylum seekers returning home, the attacks risk causing another blow to business confidence, as many regions were starting to roar back to life.

The symbolism of the only bridge linking mainland Russia and Crimea cannot be downplayed by Putin. That the attack took place a day after his 70th birthday (the timing prompted creative social media denizens to create a split-screen video of Marilyn Monroe singing ‘Happy Birthday, Mr President”) can be taken as an added blow to an aging autocrat whose ability to withstand shame and humiliation is probably nil.

dictators are known for their penchant for hardwiring newly claimed territory with expensive, record breaking infrastructure projects. Putin opened the Kerch bridge with a truck in July of 2018). That same year, one of the first things Chinese President Xi Jinping did after Beijing reclaimed Macau and Hong Kong was to connect the former Portuguese and British territories with the world’s longest sea crossing bridge. The $20 billion, 34-mile road bridge opened after about two years of delays.

The Kremlin, Crimea, and Russia: The Consequences of Putin’s Decent Outburst on Crimea

The explosion caused a funny meme to go viral, lighting up social media channels like a Christmas tree. Many shared their sense of jubilation via text messages.

For Putin, consumed by pride and self-interest, sitting still was never an option. He responded in the only way he knows how, by unleashing more death and destruction, with the force that probably comes natural to a former KGB operative.

It was also an act of selfish desperation: facing increasing criticism at home, including on state-controlled television, has placed Putin on unusually thin ice.

In August, Major General Kyrylo Budanov of the Main Intelligence Department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry was quoted as saying that by the end of the year, they would have to enter the territory of the Russian-speaking region of Crimea.

The importance is that Washington and other allies need to use telephone diplomacy to convince China and India not to use more deadly weapons.

Furthermore, high tech defense systems are needed to protect Kyiv and crucial energy infrastructure around the country. The need to protect heating systems is urgent as the winter nears.

The time has also come for the West to further isolate Russia with trade and travel restrictions – but for that to have sufficient impact, Turkey and Gulf states, which receive many Russian tourists, need to be pressured to come on board.

Anything short of these measures will only allow Putin to continue his senseless violence and further exacerbate a humanitarian crisis that will reverberate throughout Europe. A weak reaction will be taken as a sign in the Kremlin that it can continue to weaponize energy, migration and food.

The Russian Embassy to Ukraine in the Lead-up to the 2014 Ukrainian Invasion of the Donbas: The Importance of the U.S. Military Assistance

Ukrainian officials requested fighter planes as soon as they won a commitment of tanks and armored fighting vehicles in January. President Biden has said he is opposed to sending U.S.-made F-16 jets to Ukraine, and other allies have also appeared reluctant. But Britain, Kyiv’s second-biggest arms supplier after the United States, said last week that it would start training Ukrainian pilots on Western jets.

As of a Department of Defense briefing in late September, the US had yet to deliver NASAMS to Ukraine. At the time, Brig. Two systems were expected to be delivered in the next couple of months, with the rest arriving by the end of the year.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukrainians enters a second year, President Biden made a surprise visit to the nation on Monday. Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and announced new aid as Russian forces make a new push to take control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, which Russia illegally annexed last September.

Russia launched a total of 84 cruise missiles against targets across Ukraine on Monday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Facebook post.

Noisily, but that may be all. The latest statements of the Russian President are often compared to how the US weapons deliveries affect Ukraine. The latest round of fighting leads to more conflict and does not bode well for the country, according to the spokesman for the Kremlin.

As the war grinds into a new year, Zelensky faces a fresh dilemma. How to balance growing pressure from outside for a ceasefire and negotiations with Russia, and expectations within Ukraine for a full Russian withdrawal to pre-2014 lines.

Yes. There is an enormous $45 billion aid package in the works, and while not all military, it is part of a consistent drumbeat from the Biden administration. The message is simple: Ukraine is receiving as much aid as Washington can provide, short of boots on the ground, and that aid will not stop.

National Security at the Cipher Brief Conference: “The Cold War in Ukraine is about the people and the power of the Kremlin-Kuzmin regime”

Kirby told Kate that it was clear that the man was feeling the pressure at home and overseas.

A prisoner swap with Russia shortly after the summit seemed to favor Zelensky, who said at the time it was a first step towards ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which had started in 2014 and claimed the lives of over 14,000 people.

An annual conference in Sea Island, Ga., called The Cipher Brief brings together members of the national security community so they can look at the big picture of global security.

The Ukrainian president was trying to convince the American people to stick with his country. He invoked the battles of American soldiers against Nazis in 1944. The reason for Christmas being celebrated by Candlelight in Ukranian is because of the Russian attacks, which have left much of the country without power, heat or running water. “We do not complain,” he said, nor compare who has it harder. Ukraine just wants to receive the support it needs to continue the fight until victory.

A top Ukrainian official, Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff to President Zelenskyy, told the conference the conflict needs to end with a Ukrainian victory on the battlefield.

Paul Kolbe, a former CIA officer who runs the Intelligence Project atHarvard’s Kennedy School, says Russian leader is not looking for a way out of the conflict. In fact, he says, just the opposite. When Putin runs into a roadblock, his memory goes to escalate, said Kolbe. “There’s a lot of tricks he can still pull out to try to undermine morale in Ukraine and in the West.”

This annexation is a huge deal. Dmitri Alperovitch runs a think tank that believes Putin is betting his presidency on staying in Ukraine.

“That is essentially a metaphorical burning of bridges,” said Alperovitch. “This means that the war is likely to keep going as long as he has power and resources to fight and as long as he has the money to fight, so long as he is in power.”

A senior administration official told us that the conflict would continue. “The winter will be hard, and we will continue day-in, day-out to provide critical support to the Ukrainian people.”

At the Georgia conference, in a ballroom filled with experienced national security types, no one suggested the war was near an end. “Most wars end with some sort of negotiated solution, whether that comes out of stalemate or defeat, but I don’t see any prospects of talks in the near term,” said Paul Kolbe, the former CIA official.

He noted that the war began with a Russian invasion and is still intense. Greg Myre is an NPR National Security Correspondent. Gregmyre1 is the person to follow.

“He’s not rushing to negotiate with Russia or to press (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) One official said that Zelensky was one of Milley’s thoughts. “It’s a discussion around a pause in the fighting towards a political end state.”

The Ukrainians have told us they believe this war will end at the negotiating table. The Russians have voiced the sentiment in the past, and now Price has to prove it to Putin.

The city of Kherson is back in the hands of the Ukrainians, and Milley is pushing for peace in recent days. Milley praised the Ukrainian army for their efforts in fighting the Russians, but said that a military victory is out of reach.

The comments left administration officials unsurprised – given Milley’s advocacy for the position internally – but also raised concerned among some about the administration appearing divided in the eyes of the Kremlin.

Biden hopes to use his visit this week to demonstrate that Western resolve isn’t weakened by Russia’s actions. He will reiterate his commitment in meetings with Poland and other eastern European allies.

The United States is on the opposite pole from Milley: Implications for the Ukrainian War on Diplomacy and Development in the Cold War

In internal deliberations, officials said that Milley wants to make it perfectly clear that he is not pushing for a Ukrainian capitulation but that he believes now is the right time to end the war since there is little chance that the war will change before spring.

But that view is not widely held across the administration. One official explained that the State Department is on the opposite side of the pole from Milley. There is a situation in which military brass are more fervent in their push for diplomacy than US diplomats.

The US military has dug deep into US weapons stock to support the Ukrainians and is currently searching the globe for materials to supportUkraine heading into winter which raises concerns about how long this war can be sustained, officials said.

The US intends to buy 100,000 rounds of South Korean-made weaponry from the manufacturers to give to Ukraine, a US official said. As part of the deal, the US will purchase 100,000 rounds of 155mm howitzer ammunition, which will then be transferred to Ukraine through the US.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price would not say Thursday whether the State Department agrees with Milley’s position. The US and Zelensky have both said that a diplomatic solution is needed, so Price ignored that position and used it to promote the US side.

A senior administration official said that Biden will reinforce the United States’ position that it will be with the Ukrainian people for as long as it takes.

The News, China, and the World: The Voice of Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Putin at the Midterms of the 2016 Ukrainian-Russian War

Editor’s Note: Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. CNN has more opinion on it.

The White House and the Chinese government made statements saying that it happened. The two sides discussed sources of disagreement, including Taiwan’s autonomy, the war in Ukraine and China’s human rights record. And they broached areas of potential cooperation, such as climate change, global health and economic stability.

The US will remain engaged in the world despite the results of this year’s elections, said Vice President Biden. There was a bigger point. The most important signal to the world from the midterms is about the health of America’s democracy. The US elections went well, but they also dealt a serious blow to many antidemocratic elements in the country.

The United States and its democracy are in the perfect position for this meeting to occur due to the fact that the US House of Representatives and Senate are out of control.

As Biden and Xi were meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an emotional, triumphant return to the devastated, now liberated city of Kherson, the one provincial capital that Russian invaders had conquered.

The world’s leading autocrats, Putin and China’s Xi, looked unstoppable. Meanwhile, Western democracies appeared unsettled, roiled by sometimes violent protests against Covid-19 restrictions. Putin was about to win in Ukraine. With the Olympics behind him, his control of China was about to be solidified.

Putin’s adventure turned to disaster as the Ukrainians defended their country with unexpected tenacity and as Biden rallied allies in a muscular push to support Ukraine.

According to China’s Foreign Ministry, Wang’s visit will provide an opportunity for China and Russia to continue to develop their strategic partnership and “exchange views” on “international and regional hotspot issues of shared interest” – a catch-all phrase often used to allude to topics including the war in Ukraine.

Putin did not attend the G20 summit in Indonesia, avoiding confrontations with world leaders as he became a pariah on the global stage.

The Case for Resolving the Problems of the United States with the Second Term in the Post-Biden Era during the 2016 Russian Presidential Expenditure

To be sure, Biden is not the only leader with a strong hand. It has been announced that the leader of China, Xi, has just won a third term and will effectively rule for as long as he wants. He doesn’t have to worry about elections, about a critical press or a vociferous opposition party. He is the ruler of a mighty country for a long time to come.

There are a lot of daunting problems that Xi has to face. The economy has slowed down so much that China is reluctant to reveal economic data. China’s Covid-19 vaccine, once a tool of global diplomacy, is a disappointment. China is putting in drastic measures to make sure the rest of the world doesn’t get any worse after the Pandemic.

It’s crucial for the both systems to show that democracy works, that unprovoked wars of aggression will not succeed, and that China and Russia will be discredited by demonstrating that democracy works.

The US has intelligence that Russia may have delayed announcing its withdrawal from the Ukrainian city of Kherson in part to avoid giving the Biden administration a political win ahead of the midterm elections, according to four people familiar with the intelligence.

It is a sign that Russia continues to be interested in US politics, even if the impact of an announcement may not have been thought out before the elections.

“I find it interesting they waited until after the election to make that judgement, which we knew for some time they were going to be doing, and it’s evidence of the fact that they have some real problems – the Russian military,” Biden said at a press conference last Wednesday.

Biden also said he hopes that with the elections over, the Russians will be more willing to negotiate the release of US citizens detained in Russia, including Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. The lawyer for the basketball star said that she would be moved to a Russian penal colony after the election because she was due to serve the rest of her drug sentence.

The National Security Council says that the majority of the discussion focused on managing the risk of nuclear weapons as Burns was in Ankara with his Russian counterpart. The NSC didn’t comment on the story.

In Washington, Republicans who are poised to take control of Congress made it clear that they wouldn’t rubber stamp each request for assistance from Biden. Congress is on the verge of approving almost $50 billion in additional security and economic assistance.

“Even though there is still robust bipartisan agreement on Ukraine, the party that has been much more vocally supportive is the Democratic Party, and particularly the Biden administration,” said one of the people familiar with the intelligence.

Kremlin-linked oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared to confirm last week what the US intelligence community has known for years: that the Russian government sought to support Republican Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in the 2016 and 2020 elections because it deemed him friendlier to its interests.

Prigoshkin, who runs the Internet Research Agency, said on Telegram that he will interfere in the US elections.

According to private researchers, suspected Russian operatives also used far-right media platforms to denigrate Democratic candidates in a handful of battleground states in the week leading up to this year’s midterm elections.

“For all our hoopla about their information operations and political meddling, they’re still not that great at it in the grand scheme,” said the source familiar with western intelligence. There is a fundamental cultural misunderstanding there.

Russian President Vladimir Putin himself did not announce the withdrawal — which Russia has termed a “maneuver” rather than a “retreat” — distancing himself from what has become a profound embarrassment for the Russian military. The withdrawal has been heavily criticized on Russian pro-war blogs.

“An announcement like this — no matter how Russia tries to spin it — it’s still clear that they’re giving up the only provincial capital that they seized during the invasion,” said one of the people familiar with the intelligence. It is a ton of egg on their face.

Zelensky visited the Élysée Palace in Paris, France, in the time of the World War II: a keynote address to the U.S. Department of State

After meeting with Mr. Biden and members of his national security team, Mr. Zelensky is expected to hold a news conference at the White House, officials said. He will then travel to Capitol Hill for a high-profile speech before the joint session of Congress, which is expected to be a major turning point in the power of Pelosi in the House.

In Paris at the time, I witnessed how Zelensky pulled up to the Élysée Palace in a modest Renault, while Putin motored in with an ostentatious armored limousine. The host, a French president, hugged Putin and then shook hands with Zelensky.

Zelensky has used colorful stagecraft to maintain Western support for his people and multi-billion dollar line of weapons, which is why Biden’s secret visit matched some of his colorful stagecraft.

“There was a transformation,” says Volodymyr Yermolenko, a philosopher and journalist who runs the website Ukraine World. Zelenskyy is a person who empathises with others. He creates this image that I’m one of you. The war only enhanced this feeling.”

He knew exactly what he needed to do when he was bullied by Putin, says the former political journalist and founder of the Kyiv-based think.

This, after all, is the leader who when offered evacuation by the US as Russia launched its full-scale invasion, quipped: “I need ammunition, not a ride.”

The Kissing of Petro Poroshenko: Celebrating in the Fog of War with Queen Sofia Zelensky and the Making of an Ambassador for Russia

Amid the fog of war, it all seems a long, long way since the heady campaign celebration in a repurposed Kyiv nightclub where a fresh-faced Zelensky thanked his supporters for a landslide victory. Standing on stage among the fluttering confetti, he looked in a state of disbelief at having defeated incumbent veteran politician Petro Poroshenko.

The war appears to have turned his ratings around. Zelensky had a ratings approval of 90 percent after the invasion, and remain high this day. Even Americans early in the war rated Zelensky highly for his handling of international affairs – ahead of US President Joe Biden.

His bubble includes many people from his previous professional life as a TV comedian in the theatrical group Kvartal 95. Even in the midst of the war, a press conference held on the platform of a Kyiv metro station in April featured perfect lighting and curated camera angles to emphasize a wartime setting.

As for his skills as comforter in chief, I remember well the solace his nightly televised addresses brought in the midst of air raid sirens and explosions in Lviv.

Zelensky is projecting confidence and competentness in a modern way, by wearing hoodies and T-shirts, the youthful uniform of Silicon Valley, rather than suits, according to a fashion historian.

“He is probably more comfortable than Putin on camera, too, both as an actor and as a digital native,” she added. “I believe both of them want to come across as relatable, not aloof or untouchable, although Zelensky is definitely doing a better job balancing authority with accessibility.”

Zelenska has shown her ability to be a good ambassador for her country as she travels to where her husband can’t. She met with King Charles during his visit to the refugee assistance center at the Holy Family Cathedral in London. (Curiously, TIME magazine did not include Zelenska on the cover montage and gave only a passing reference in the supporting text).

Zelensky has strong tailwinds at his back, but there are more subtle signs that his influence is waning. For example, last week, in what analysts called a pivotal moment in geopolitics, the G7 imposed a $60 a barrel price cap on Russian crude – despite pleas from Zelensky that it should have been set at $30 in order to inflict more pain on the Kremlin.

Zelensky said in a recent nightly video address that, when the world is truly united, it is not the aggressor who decides how events develop.

Biden’s Unannounced Visit to Kyiv During the First Ukrainian Invasion of Ukraine, and His Letter to Congress

President Biden made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, an audacious and somewhat risky trip aimed at expressing solidarity with Ukrainians as Russia’s invasion of their country heads into a second year.

Zelensky was going to Washington to do a specific mission, said Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona on CNN. “What he is trying to do is draw a direct correlation between our support and the survival and support and future victory of Ukraine,” Gallego, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said.

The United States and other Western nations have been rushing arms, tanks and ammunition to Ukraine in the hopes of changing the trajectory of the war. By visiting in person, Biden is offering a singular image of American support for Zelensky, who has spent the past year attempting to rally the world behind his nation and appealing for greater levels of assistance.

Zelensky met with soldiers and handed out awards, according to his office. The video was posted by state TV and showed the president presenting an award to troops. Since Russian forces started their assault on the city in May, Bakhmut has seen some of the most ferocious fighting in the country.

There had been suggestions of an unusual session of Congress. Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter Tuesday to all House members asking them to go to the Wednesday session in person despite not being able to vote remotely.

Zelensky will address Congress on Wednesday according to several sources. The sources warn that this may not be final, due to security concerns.

The U.S. Mission to Ukraine During the War of World War II: The First Day of President Barack Obama’s Wartime Visit

The system is widely considered one of the most capable long-range weapons to defend airspace against incoming ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as some aircraft. Because of its long-range and high-altitude capability, it can potentially shoot down Russian missiles and aircraft far from their intended targets inside Ukraine.

The number of missiles that will be sent isn’t clear, but a typical battery includes a radar set that can detect targets, computers, power generating equipment, an engagement control station and up to eight missiles.

US troops are going to teach the Ukrainians how to use the system in a third country. CNN has previously reported the training would occur at a US Army base in Grafenwoehr, Germany.

Small air defense systems can be operated by a few personnel, while the larger batteries need many personnel to operate them. The training for Patriot missile batteries normally takes multiple months, a process the United States will now carry out under the pressure of near-daily aerial attacks from Russia.

Pulled together quickly by American and Ukrainian officials over the past 10 days, the wartime visit is meant to demonstrate in stirring fashion the continued American commitment to Ukraine at a moment when Biden’s ability to maintain that support at home and abroad is being tested.

The final decision was made in an Oval Office meeting on Friday evening, when Biden gave the final green light. Once the trip was on, US officials took steps to notify Moscow of their plans, an attempt at “deconfliction” meant to avoid unthinkable disaster while Biden was on the ground.

Zelensky flew a US military aircraft out of his country, but US officials would not provide further details on the security for the trip. It has been difficult to travel in and out of the country. Western leaders who have visited Kyiv over the past year have journeyed on a lengthy train ride from Poland.

Donald Pelosi and Ukraine: Why the US shouldn’t spend its money on a border wall, and why voters should not spend it in the US

The appearance would mark a potentially electrifying moment as Democratic control of the House — and Ms. Pelosi’s reign as speaker and a member of Democratic leadership — comes to a conclusion, with Republicans set to take over on Jan. 3.

His visit to Congress will also play into an increasingly important debate on Capitol Hill over Ukraine aid with Republicans set to take over the House majority in the new year. Billions of dollars in US cash that has been sent to Ukraine shouldn’t be used to build the US southern border because of a surge of migrants expected within days, according to some pro-Donald Trump members.

The Republicans in the House have opposed previous packages because they thought the money was better spent in the US. On Tuesday, Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a far-right Republican, posted on social media that she didn’t like the new aid.

What do we know before using anonymous sources? The Times reveals the consequences of the Cold War on Russia, Ukraine, and the Middle of the Night

What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? What’s their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and an editor know who the source is.

Presidents Bush, Obama and Trump went to Iraq and Afghanistan in the middle of the night to visit their troops and American allies. And while those trips had their own measure of daring and danger, Biden’s visit went a step further – venturing into a foreign capital that is often under air attack and lacks the security offered by large garrisons of American troops and air assets. The US did inform Russia of the plans to visit for “deconfliction purposes,” according to Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

When Zelensky gave a video address to the UK Parliament earlier this year, he compared Russia’s resistance to Britain’s defiance in the days before the US entered World War II.

The decision on Patriots, which would satisfy a long-standing Ukrainian request, reflects a US process of matching its aid to the shifting strategy of Russia’s assault. The system would help Kyiv better counter Russia’s brutal missile attacks on cities and electricity installations, which it has mounted in an effective attempt to weaponize bitter winter weather to break the will of Ukrainian civilians.

The former NATO Supreme Allied Commander said Zelensky’s trip indicates a critical moment when the fate of the war between Ukraine and Russia could be decided before Russia regroups.

Zelensky evoked Mount Rushmore and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a Dream Speech” during a virtual address to Congress. He also referred to two days of infamy in modern history when Americans directly experienced the fear of aerial bombardment.

Remember the terrible morning of December 7, 1941 when planes attacked Pearl Harbor, it was a black day. Just remember it,” Zelensky said. “Remember September 11, a terrible day in 2001 when evil tried to turn your cities, independent territories, into battlefields. When innocent people were attacked, attacked from air, just like nobody else expected it, you could not stop it. Every day our country experiences the same thing.

An Interview with the U.S. Prime Minister Richards, the Founders of the Western, and His Investigation of the 1941 December 11 Correspondence

The wartime British leader sailed to the United States aboard HMS Duke of York, dodging U-boats in the wintery Atlantic and took a plane from the coast of Virginia to Washington, where he was met on December 22, 1941, by President Franklin Roosevelt before their joint press conference the next day.

Over days of meetings and discussion, the two leaders decided to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, and laid the foundation of the Western.

During his visit, the British Prime Minister said he had been pining for US involvement in World War II for a long time and knew that it was the key to defeating Hitler.

The historical parallels are likely to appeal to the Ukrainian leader. In an emotional speech to British parliament, he quoted from a speech that was one of the most well-known wartime speeches.

Biden announced a half-billion dollars in new assistance, saying the package would include more military equipment, such as artillery ammunition, more javelins and Howitzers. And he said new sanctions would be imposed on Moscow later this week.

The evidence was laid out for why the former president should be tried for multiple crimes. It’s also begun handing over evidence it collected during the investigation to special counsel Jack Smith – the seasoned lawyer appointed to head up two Trump-related probes, including the January 6 investigation, at the Justice Department.

The committee’s final report states that the central cause of January 6th was a single man, former President Donald Trump. “None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.”

The Biden Administration is in trouble after removing the Biden Expulsion Rule from the U.S. Tax Returns of Scott B. Bankman-Fried

The Senate is going to take the procedural steps necessary to get a spending bill done by Thursday and send it to the House.

A controversial Trump-era border restriction known as Title 42 that was set to expire Wednesday will remain in place until the Supreme Court issues an order – which can come at any time, although the court has no deadline.

The Supreme Court should reject an emergency bid by a group of GOP-led states to remain in effect while legal challenges play out, according to the Biden administration. It asked for the court to delay the end of Title 42 until December 27 because of ongoing preparations for an influx of migrants and a holiday weekend.

The rule allows border officials to immediately turn away immigrants who have crossed the southern border illegally, in order to prevent Covid-19. There have been nearly 2.5 million expulsions – mostly under the Biden administration, which has been bracing for an influx of arrivals if the authority lifts.

The Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday asserted that the IRS failed to properly audit Trump’s taxes while he was in office. It released a report that detailed six years’ worth of the former president’s tax returns, including his claims of massive annual losses that significantly reduced his tax burden.

Alpha Grant, the administrator of the Nassau Magistrate Court, said that the hearing for Bankman-Fried is expected to take place on Wednesday.

Grant confirmed the time of Wednesday’s hearing just after Jerone Roberts, Bankman-Fried’s attorney, spent several hours in the courthouse Tuesday afternoon and then left.

Bankman-Fried was arrested a week ago at his luxury residence in the Bahamas the night before he was scheduled to appear virtually before the House Financial Services Committee.

Military Assistance to Ukraine in the Light of Moscow’s Critique of the Crossover of the Patriot Missile Line and the 2016 Ukrainian Presidential Referendum

There are two key headline deliverables: first, the Patriot missile systems. The US’s “gold standard” of air defense is complex, accurate, and expensive. NATO guards them and requires their personnel who operate them to be properly trained.

More precision weapons are vital: they ensure Ukraine hits its targets, and not any civilians remaining nearby. Russia appears to burn through hundreds or thousands of shells as it bombards places it wants to capture.

The new deal will likely include the supply of guidance kits, or Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which Ukraine can use to bolt on to their unguided missiles or bombs. This will increase their accuracy and the rate in which Kyiv’s forces burn through ammunition. A lot of the $1.8 billion is expected to fund munitions replacements and stocks.

But Moscow is struggling to equip and rally its conventional forces, and, with the exception of its nuclear forces, appears to be running out of new cards to play. The use of nuclear force is less likely since China and India have joined the West in opposing it.

Western analysts have noted that Russia has complained about these deliveries, but was relatively quiet about the crossing, which might have been considered a red line.

Regardless of the true nature of military assistance, Biden wants to make it appear as though there is millions of dollars going to Ukraine, so that Putin will be more than happy to hear about it.

This is trickier. Kevin McCarthy, the most likely new Speaker of the House of Representatives, warned the Biden administration that they can’t expect a blank cheque.

The American Dream of Vlasov in the Battle against Putin and Russia: Volodymyr Zelensky Revisited

The remnants of the Trumpist “America First” elements of that party have echoed doubts about how much aid the US should really be sending to the edges of eastern Europe.

Realistically, the bill for the slow defeat of Russia in this dark and lengthy conflict is relatively light for Washington, given its near trillion-dollar annual defense budget.

Members of the United States Congress, Republicans and Democrats, rose to their feet time and again Wednesday night, nearly drowning out Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in one emotional standing ovation after another. It was an incredible evening, concluding an extraordinary day.

“Your money is not charity,” he assured a Congress about to debate billions more in military and economic support, where skeptical Republicans will soon have more influence. The investment is made in the global security and democracy in a responsible way.

“We really fight for our common victory against this tyranny that is real life,” Zelensky said in a press conference at the White House — “and we will win.”

He handed over a simple Ukrainian flag signed by troops from the besieged area of Bakhmut to Pelosi, asking lawmakers to think of it and support Ukraine. She handed him an American flag that had been flown over the US Capitol, which he carried out of the chamber.

She said Zelensky’s historic address “strengthened both Democrats and Republicans who understand what is at stake in this fight against Putin and Russian aggression and now with their ally, Iran, as well.”

May the New Year have all this. We are going to fight for it. Each of us is here because of that. I’m here. We’re here. You are here, you are here. Everyone is here. We are all from the same country.

She hopes that they will send more than one. She stated that there had been reluctance in the past by US and NATO to provide advanced equipment, but added that she had seen how effective the Ukrainian military was.

Clinton, who previously met Russian President Vladimir Putin as US secretary of state, said the leader was “probably impossible to actually predict,” as the war turns in Ukraine’s favor and his popularity fades at home.

“I think around now, what [Putin] is considering is how to throw more bodies, and that’s what they will be – bodies of Russian conscripts – into the fight in Ukraine,” Clinton said.

A small amount of Biden’s senior-most aides had been planning his trip for months, and they saw the significance of visiting the Ukrainian capital a year after Russia tried to capture it.

Zelensky at the end of the American revolution: a tribute to the past, the present, and the future of the United States

The men made clear after their talks that the war is entering a new phase. As Russia sends more troops to the frontlines and wages a brutal air campaign against civilian targets, fears of a stalemate are growing.

Zelensky said the road to ending the war would not involve making concessions to Russia.

“For me as a president, ‘just peace’ is no compromises,” he said, indicating he doesn’t see any road to peace that involves Ukraine giving up territory or sovereignty.

Later, in his address to Congress, Zelensky said he’d presented a 10-point peace formula to Biden – though US officials said afterward it was the same plan he offered to world leaders at the Group of 20 summit last month.

For his part, Biden said it was up to Zelensky to “decide how he wants to the war to end,” a long-held view that leaves plenty of questions unanswered.

Zelensky’s address talked about a number of important American events, from the Battle of Farrell in the American Revolutionary War to the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.

He delivered his address in English, a purposeful choice he telegraphed ahead of the speech. His army green shirt and cargo pants reminded his audience that they were in the presence of a wartime leader.

Zelensky has excelled at appealing to his audience over the course of the conflict.

He tried to harness the emotion of Americans as Russia tries to interrupt the supply of power in his country.

“We will celebrate Christmas, maybe candlelit. Not because it’s more romantic but because there won’t be electricity. Light of our faith will not be put out even if there is no electricity during Christmas.

How a Hero Whose Country Lost It: Biden’s Bitter Criticism of the Reconciliation Between America and Other Foreign Powers

Many Americans, including some Republicans in congress, have wondered aloud why billions of US dollars are needed for a conflict thousands of miles away. He sought to make the cause about more than his own homeland.

“We haven’t lost anything,” Mr. Zelensky said. The item was taken from us. Ukraine did not lose its sons and daughters — they were taken away by murderers. Terrorists destroyed the homes of Ukrainians. We did not lose our lands — they were occupied by invaders. The world did not lose peace — Russia destroyed it.”

Zelensky’s candid request for more Patriots – and Biden’s lighthearted response – amounted to a window into one of the world’s most complicated relationships.

On the surface, Biden and Zelensky have maintained a stalwart partnership. Zelensky was very effusive in his praise of Biden while he was on his way to Capitol Hill.

That hasn’t always sat well with Biden or his team. Biden appeared to be trying to translate physical proximity into a better understanding of his counterpart, as he has with other foreign leaders.

“It is all about looking someone in the eye. I said it sincerely. He said there was no substitute for sitting down and facing a friend or foe in the same way he was looking at them.

The War Between the Soviet Union and the United States: The Hero who Saved Ukraine for All, Never Forgets, and Never Gives

This story was adapted from the December 22 edition of CNN’s Meanwhile in America, the daily email about US politics for global readers. Click here to read past editions and subscribe.

The comic actor-turned-wartime hero effectively put the fate of millions of Ukrainians in the hands of American lawmakers, taxpayers and families at a time when there is growing skepticism among the incoming Republican House majority about the cost of US involvement.

At an emotional peak of his speech in the House chamber, Zelensky handed Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris a Ukrainian flag he retrieved from the hottest battle front at Bakhmut on Tuesday.

He said that his heroes wanted him to show the flag to the US Congress and the House of Representatives so they could make good decisions for millions of people.

But Zelensky’s inspirational rhetoric and heroic bearing couldn’t disguise the uncertainties and risks of a war in which the US is effectively now fighting a proxy battle with its nuclear superpower rival, Russia.

— To Americans, Zelensky professed deep thanks for tens of billions of dollars in weapons and aid offered and to come. He argued that they couldn’t abandon the independence hero without also suppressing something about their own patriotism.

— To the incoming House Republican majority, some of whose members want to halt aid, the Ukrainian leader’s hero’s welcome in the chamber suggested they would be shamed if they choose to forsake him.

— To Europeans, enduring their own grim winter of high electricity and heating prices after cutting off from Russian energy, and who may be minded to push for an end to the conflict on Putin’s terms, Zelensky showed that the West is united and that Biden means it when he said Wednesday the US is in “for as long as it takes.”

Zelensky said that brave Ukrainian soldiers are fighting back against Putin’s forces just like the soldiers of the US fought back against Hitler during the Christmas of 1944.

Zelensky repeatedly pointed out that despite the largesse of US artillery support and the imminent arrival of high-tech weapons like a Patriot missile battery that Biden unveiled Wednesday, his nation was still outmanned and outgunned.

“I’m here in Poland to see firsthand the humanitarian crisis and quite frankly, part of my disappointment is that I can’t see it firsthand like I have in other places,” Biden said then. They will not let me cross the border to look at what is happening in Ukraine.

The president has limited the potency of the weapons he sends into the battle, balancing the need to defend a European democracy with the desire not to trigger a disastrous direct clash with Russia and to avoid crossing often invisible red lines whose locations are known only to Putin.

When Vladimir Zelensky was in Ukraine for the Battle of the Bulge, he gave it to the U.S. and to NATO

There is no guarantee that America’s lawmakers will be able to pay for their own government even if a budget is approved next year.

Several Republican members who have expressed reservations about aid to Ukraine – like Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Matt Gaetz of Florida – did not stand to applaud when Zelensky was introduced.

After returning from a visit to the front lines of the Ukrainian conflict, President Volodymyr Zelensky went to the US House of Representatives to shore up his supply line.

On the dais where heads of state usually sport suits, Zelensky embraced the look of a warrior as he used confident English to claim “joint victory” in what he said was the defeat of Russia in the “battle for minds of the world.”

Although he did not mention the elephant in the room, the speech was a clear plea to Republican lawmakers, who will control the House in January, to stay with Ukraine.

Congress was ready to vote on a year-long spending bill that included emergency assistance for Ukraine and NATO allies.

Zelensky could have addressed a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday if he wanted, but Republicans are getting tired of America’s support and will take control of the House next month. More than $21 billion has been given to defense by the US in a year. That includes $1.8 billion in a new weapons deal announced when Zelensky met President Joe Biden at the White House earlier Wednesday.

He returned to US military history Wednesday, referring to the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, when US troops were surrounded in the snow after gaining a foothold in Europe on D-Day.

“He’s already established in the American people’s mind we’re in this together, but then pointing out that they’ll do the fighting for us – ‘just give us the tools and we will finish the job.’ That’s what Churchill said,” Kearns Goodwin told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Wednesday evening.

Reply to Zelensky, Biden, McCarthy, and the Future of the United States in the Light of Putin’s War on Ukraine

An address to Congress is the ultimate platform for a foreign president in the US and maybe around the world. It is different than Putin who canceled his annual year end press conference.

But at the same time, it’s clear to Zelensky, and also to Biden, that this is the time to re-engage the US public as Russia’s war drags toward its one-year marker with no indication there is an end to fighting on the way.

Petraeus added it was substantive because of the new money pledged to Ukraine both at the White House and in a larger $1.7 trillion spending bill lawmakers need to pass before Friday.

Kevin McCarthy, who wants to be speaker of the House, had a meeting with Zelensky and three other congressional leaders.

“I support Ukraine but I never support a blank check,” McCarthy said after the speech. “We want to make sure there’s accountability for every money that we spent.”

The only Ukrainian-born member of Congress, Indiana GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz, has expressed skepticism about some of the aid to Ukraine and concerns about corruption in Zelensky’s administration.

2022: When News Breaks, the World Comes To CNN, and the Last 25 Years of Phenomenology — A Tale of Three Million Visits

2022 was not just another year that tried patience and frayed nerves, it was historic and deadly. Russia launched its largest land war in Europe since World War II by President Putin. All too common horrors were unleashed once more on American schoolchildren in Uvalde, Texas, and in many, many other mass shootings in the United States. Brilliance who helped toilluminate our lives was extinguished.

When news breaks, the world comes to CNN, as it has for more than 40 years on television and more than 25 years on digital platforms. On average, more than 165 million of you came to CNN Digital from around the globe every month in 2022, according to Comscore.

The other stories among our top 10 most read, watched or listened to were the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, our election night streaming of CNN’s TV coverage of the midterms and our digital pages of up-to-the-second results from hundreds of races.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade and its impact on women’s lives and US politics were a recurring top story, as were the numerous mass shootings and natural disasters.

The last few weeks of the year have brought new concerns in China, but interest and fear surrounding the Covid-19 incident waned as the pandemic itself did. Pandemic developments know no borders according to history.

Entertainment news brought millions of you to CNN. Stephen “tWitch” Boss was the DJ for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and his death was the top entertainment story. The Good Samaritans made a difference in the lives of strangers, and there were bright moments as well.

Every piece of the Top 100 stories this year received more than three million visits according to our internal data.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/31/us/top-100-digital-stories-2022-trnd/index.html

A Year of War in Ukraine: A Memory of Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Kiev, the President of Ukraine, and Everyday in 2023

Thank you for being here with us through it all. We will be with you every single day in 2023 for every breaking news story and every happy piece of joy.

Shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day, a Ukrainian strike on the occupied city of Makiivka killed dozens of troops, with Russia’s Ministry of Defense claiming its soldiers’ cell phone use exposed their location.

KYIV, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine delivered a rousing New Year’s Eve address on Saturday night, recalling a year that he said truly “began on Feb. 24” with fear over Russia’s invasion but ended with his country hopeful for victory.

Standing in darkness with a Ukrainian flag rippling gently in the breeze behind him, Mr. Zelensky recounted in a videotaped speech many notable moments from the war — including the attack on a maternity hospital, the intense fighting at the Azovstal steel plant, the destruction of a Russian bridge to Crimea, the retaking of Kherson, the sinking of a Russian flagship — as the video cut to footage that underscored his words.

“This year has struck our hearts,” he said, according to a translated transcript posted on his official website. “We’ve cried out all the tears. The prayers have been said. 311 days. We have something to say about every minute.”

Ukrainian War and the Security Status of the Armed Forces in the U.S.: Commentary of David A. Zelensky

Zelensky said that all Ukrainians, whether they work, attend schools or just learning to walk, are participating in the defense of Ukraine. He said that it was not the right way to think of it as a year of losses.

In the midst of the crisis in Ukraine, the world has rallied around the country, according to Mr. Zelensky.

Editor’s Note: David A. Andelman, a contributor to CNN, twice winner of the Deadline Club Award, is a chevalier of the French Legion of Honor, author of “A Red Line in the Sand: Diplomacy, Strategy, and the History of Wars That Might Still Happen” and blogs at Andelman Unleashed. He formerly was a correspondent for The New York Times and CBS News in Europe and Asia. The views in this commentary are of his own. View more opinion at CNN.

The Russian account says that cell phones were being used in violation of regulations that allowed Ukrainian forces to target them most accurately. The attack was executed by the Ukrainians. Russia’s war is a big deal and its implications are deeper than that.

It is telling that days after the deadliest known attack on Russian servicemen, President Vladimir Putin called for a temporary ceasefire, citing the Orthodox Christmas holiday. The move was a cynical attempt to seek breathing space amidst a very bad start to the year for Russian forces.

Russian officials said that several missiles launched by the Ukrainians hit the Vocational school where the forces were housed. The Russian air defenses shot down two of the rockets.

Russia has a large amount of weapons in close proximity to troops they will supply and also within range of enemy weaponry. Even if Russian territory is off-limits to the Ukrainians, standard military practice would dictate that the large depots be broken up and scattered and that they be located behind enemy lines.

Chris Dougherty, a senior fellow for the Defense Program and co-head of the Gaming Lab at the Center for New American Security in Washington, has told me that Russia’s failure to break up or move large arms depots is largely a function of the reality that their forces cannot communicate adequately.

It is a view shared by other experts. “Bad communications security seems to be standard practice in the Russian Army,” James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told me in an e-mail exchange.

The troops killed in the Makiivka battle were conscripts, part of a larger picture of Russian soldiers shipped to the front lines with little training and sub-standard equipment.

Indeed, a number of the most recent arrivals to the war are inmates from Russian prisons, freed and transferred immediately to the Ukrainian front. It is unimaginable how appealing the use of cell phones would be to prisoners who have been isolated from the outside world for years.

Semyon Pegov, who was given the Order of Courage by President Putin at the Kremlin two weeks ago, attacked the Ministry of Defense for accusing the troops of using cell phones.

He wondered how the Ministry of Defense could be so sure that soldiers in the school building would not be found by using a local intelligence source or drones.

The Defense Minister’s Shakeup and the Promise of an End to End War: After Mizintsev’s Battle of Kaliningrad, Ukraine

The question is when Putin’s responsibility will begin to shift from the military to him, especially since he seems incapable of changing leadership at the top. The last change was the appointment of Sergei Surovikin as the first person to be placed in overall command of all Russian forces on the Ukraine front — an army general formerly in charge of the brutal Russian bombardment of Aleppo in Syria.

A month earlier, the defense ministry underwent a shakeup when Col. Gen. Mikhail Y. Mizintsev, known to Western officials as the “butcher of Mariupol,” was named deputy defense minister for overseeing logistics, replacing four-star Gen. Dmitri V. Bulgakov, who had held the post since 2008. The location of the arms depot was likely to have been on Mizintsev’s watch.

Sergei Shoigu, Putin’s favorite defense minister, said in a video that his victory is inevitable before the Makiivka attack.

The US was considering sending Bradley armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine. The Ukrainian president urged the dispatch of heavier battle tanks, but the French president said he would send light tanks. All of which puts German Chancellor Olaf Scholz under increasing pressure to add its powerful Leopard 2 tanks to the mix.

The Biden administration’s announcement of the largest withdrawal of US military assistance to Ukraine on Friday was met with nervousness, because there are some concerns that Republican control of Washington could cause problems in the future.

But there’s now concern that McCarthy’s troubled bid for the speakership – a history-defying effort that has led to more than a dozen unsuccessful votes this week – could put further limitations on Ukraine aid.

Several Republican members who switched their votes to support McCarthy on Friday said they are encouraged by a framework of an agreement, but provided no specifics about the deal and said talks are ongoing.

Do Republicans really want subsea for Ukraine? The case of the Ukraine ambassador to the United States and the Chancellor of Germany, Markuccio Scholz, during a Trump presidency

That number was even higher than President Joe Biden requested – a reflection of Democrats’ concern that additional funding wouldn’t be as forthcoming in a GOP-led House. In a number of ways it was an insurance policy against the Republicans and the belief inside the White House was that that number would last a long time.

The diplomat said this was a sign of a long legislative paralysis, and that the Freedom Caucus had just demonstrated its clout.

McCarthy could make cuts to aid if he succeeds in securing the role.

Another diplomat told CNN they’re personally concerned about “the policy concessions McCarthy has to make, and if they are going to affect US role in the world.”

A third diplomat was worried concessions like the House Rules Committee could be granted to lawmakers who had opposed more assistance for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president welcomed the latest withdrawal, saying that it was an awesome Christmas present. Lawmakers in the country are not concerned that the future of assistance is at risk because of the bipartisan support they’ve received.

Russia wanted to increase global sales and increase economic leverage over Europe and its power hungry heavy industries and invested a lot in the undersea passageway linking it to Germany. Germany, a leading consumer, was on board from the get-go. Washington was not.

The United States didn’t want the new, high-capacity subsea supply to supplant old overland lines that transited Ukraine, providing vital revenue to the increasingly Westward-leaning leadership in Kyiv.

Russia’s ambassador to Germany said Berlin’s move to send tanks was “extremely dangerous” and accused Scholz of refusing “to acknowledge its [Germany’s] historic accountability to our people for the horrific crimes of Nazism.” The White House was accused of being intent on the “strategic defeat” of Russia by Washington.

Europe has been slow to respond to the political fissures in US politics and uncertainty surrounding another Trumpian-style presidency. Decades of a reasonably unshakable reliance, if not complete trust, in the US, has been replaced by stubborn European pragmatism – and Germany leads the way.

Europe had a moral compass that was headed by the former Chancellor of Germany. Scholz has found unexpected metal in his ponderous, often stop/go/wait traffic-light governing coalition and won thunderous applause in Germany’s Bundestag on Wednesday as he flashed a rare moment of steely leadership.

A Conversation with Putin on Russia’s War with the Kremlin and the Security and Security of the Second World War, Rejoinder

He told them to trust them and they wouldn’t put you in danger. He explained how his government handled Russia’s aggression and how there were fears of a freezing winter and economic collapse that were not realized. He said that the government had dealt with the crisis and that they were in a better position.

The applause at each step of his carefully crafted speech spoke as loudly as his words. In short, Scholz got it right for Germany, bringing with him a population typically averse to war and projecting their own power, and deeply divided over how much they should aid Ukraine in killing Russians and potentially angering the Kremlin.

Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and deputy chairman of its national security council, has said Russia would never allow itself to be defeated and would use nuclear weapons if threatened.

CNN spoke to some Russians after the announcements about tanks confused by Biden and Scholz. Some said Russia would win regardless, and lumped the US and Germany together as the losers, but a significant proportion were worried about the war, dismayed at the heavy death toll and frustrated that Putin ignored their concerns.

He seems to have no idea how much Putin is popular, but his actions now, sending tanks, may help ease Putin’s hold on power.

Western nations have been shipping large quantities of arms, tanks and related equipment to Ukraine in a attempt to change the war’s trajectory. It’s not enough for Zelensky, who wants heavier weapons and fighter jets.

This shift in the power dynamic may not change the way the war is fought but could impact the contours of a final deal and shape a lasting peace when it comes.

NPR State of Ukraine: MH17 in Ukraine from a High-Energy War to an Interaction with Russia and the United States

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise Europe tour, meeting leaders in London, Paris and Brussels, and reiterating his call for allies to send fighter jets to Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine received less attention during President Biden’s State of the Union address than it had in the previous year.

The international team that is investigating the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in a conflict in Ukraine says there is strong evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin gave go-ahead to supply anti-aircraft weapons to the rebels.

You can read past recaps here. For context and more in-depth stories, you can find more of NPR’s coverage here. Also, listen and subscribe to NPR’s State of Ukraine podcast for updates throughout the day.

A spokesman for the armed forces, Col. Serhiy Cherevaty, said on Ukrainian television that soldiers need to keep their focus on building defensive lines. But he also said that part of the reason for the order a day earlier barring civilians, including aid workers, from entering the city was to keep military operations secret.

Moscow or Kyiv will have little strategic value from Bakhmut since it is a prize. It’s significance comes from how much blood spilled to claim it.

If Bakhmut were to fall it would not have a significant effect on the war, according to the National Security Council spokesman. “I would go so far as to say it won’t even have necessarily a strategic impact on the fighting in that part of the country.”

John J. Sullivan: The US Ambassador to Russia in the First Two Years of the War on the Continent (and the End of the Cold War)

In Brussels, Western officials deflected questions about whether Ukraine would win its campaign to secure still more powerful weapons to use against its Russian enemy.

The American defence secretary said he didn’t have an announcement to make, when asked whether fighter jets had been discussed.

From December of 19 to October of 22nd, John J. Sullivan was US Ambassador to Russia. He was the US deputy secretary of state. And is now a partner in Mayer Brown LLP and a Distinguished Fellow at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion on CNN.

I told everyone for several weeks that Russian President Vladimir Putin would launch a war on the Continent of Europe, which had not been seen since World War II.

I was not as confident in my pre-war assessment as I should have been. For two years, I had worked hard as US ambassador to make even modest progress in the few areas in which any dialogue was possible with the Russians.

The downward spiral of our relationship accelerated even as I was an advocate for continued negotiations with the Russian government. As the US ambassador to Moscow, I took the lead in those negotiations from a comfortable perch at the State Department.

Immediately, our engagement was reduced to the grave Russian threat to Ukraine and the “security guarantees” Russia sought from the United States and NATO. It was apparent to me that the Russians had no intention of negotiating in good faith.

The Russian people would not engage in a dialogue if they read from their talking points. The Russians watched every meeting and phone call. The Russians were going through a diplomatic charade to lay the groundwork for an invasion that Putin had already decided to launch. The only question was when.

The war made a big difference, from where I lived in Moscow to Russia’s standing in the world. The Embassy compound was required of me because the pace of teleconferences with Washington meant I had to be available at all hours.

The invasion wreaked havoc on the economy, including energy and grain markets. And most tragically, it slaughtered thousands of innocents and caused unspeakable suffering for millions of Ukrainians because of a policy choice by Putin in his quest for empire.

Yet the merciless Russian violence (which has forced almost 15 million Ukrainians to become refugees or internally displaced), the catastrophic missile strikes on civilian targets and the unlawful occupation of sovereign Ukrainian territory continue. And all by a country, Russia, that is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, whose mission is to preserve and defend world peace.

This is a menacing global problem that will only get worse—the economic toll alone is staggering—until it is stopped and reversed on terms acceptable to Ukraine that will protect its sovereignty and security.

The Russians do not negotiate in good faith now because of the war. There is no “off ramp” until Putin achieves his longstanding goals.

This raises the question: what is to be done? I believe the way forward for the United States is, first, to double down on diplomacy to convince those nations that have not joined in stoutly supporting the defense of Ukraine of the moral, political, legal and military necessity of doing so.

The Russian government will not realize its goals until after they have been accomplished. Only then will the Russian government negotiate in good faith. Only then will peace return to Europe.

How did Biden arrive to Ukraine before his surprise arrival in Kyiv? Counting His Travels with the U.S. Attorney’s Office

Instead, he secretly left Washington early on Sunday morning. There are security concerns and details of how he got to Ukraine are not immediately available. Biden left the capital. Kyiv has been the target of Russian missile and drone strikes, including as recently as Feb. 10.

Keeping Biden’s plans secret required extraordinary measures on the part of the White House. Biden and his aides repeatedly denied any possibility of a trip to Ukraine prior to his travel. Every effort was made to maintain that position in the hour leading up to Biden’s surprise arrival in Kyiv.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan, deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley-Dill and personal aide Annie Tomasini are all part of Biden’s traveling group.

The prime ministers of Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic were in Kyiv in March of 2022, and they all arrived by train. Then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited April 9, followed by visits from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and then-Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

Biden’s wife, Dr.Jill Biden, paid a surprise visit to a small city in the far southwest ofUkraine on Mother’s Day last year. There were 48 children at the former school that was converted into temporary housing for displaced Ukrainians.

Yet security precautions had prevented Biden from making a similar trip. When he visited Poland in April last year, the White House did not even explore the potential for a trip across the border, even though Biden said he had voiced interest.

After the Ukraine War, President Joe Biden and the U.S. Military Embedded in Washington were seen Saturday night on Valentine’s Day

But it remains unclear what parameters Zelensky might be willing to accept in any peace negotiations, and the US has steadfastly refused to define what a settlement may look like beyond stating it will be up to Zelensky to decide.

American officials told CNN on Saturday the US has recently begun seeing “disturbing” trends and there are signs that Beijing wants to “creep up to the line” of providing lethal military aid to Moscow without getting caught.

The officials would not provide details but said that the US has given intel to allies and partners about a recent shift in China’s posture.

Wang is expected to arrive in Moscow this week, which will be the first visit by a Chinese official since the Russia invasion of Ukraine.

“I thought it was critical that there not be any doubt, none whatsoever, about U.S. support for Ukraine in the war,” Biden said, emphasizing bipartisan support in Congress for Ukraine.

But with no end to the war in sight, polls show a growing number of Americans are concerned about how much money has gone to the war — and some Republican budget hawks have said they would like to curtail the spending.

Around 7 p.m. ET on Saturday night, President Joe Biden was out in Washington on a Valentine’s week date-night, lingering over rigatoni with fennel sausage ragu before returning with his wife to the White House.

The next time he was seen in public was 36 hours later, striding out of St. Michael’s Cathedral in Kyiv into a bright winter day, air raid sirens wailing a reminder of both the risks and reason for visiting Ukraine as it nears a second year of war.

Yet it was more than symbolism that drove Biden to endure the significant risk of visiting an active war zone without significant US military assets on the ground.

The Story of Joe Biden in Kiev: A Presidential Vacation to Ukraine in a War Zone without Control of the Air Space, or What he Wanted

“This is so much larger than just Ukraine. He wore a blue and yellow tie and said that it was about freedom and democracy in Europe.

That was due to the fact that there was fluid travel. The reality of a president going to war in a war zone with no control of the air space was frightening, even as a small circle of White House officials looped in on the planning.

No notice was given to reporters on Sunday that Biden was no longer in Washington. The White House schedule still shows his departure for Poland at 7 pm on Monday.

“We’re going to continue to use our convening power, to marshal the world, to galvanize support for Ukraine, but there are no plans for the president to enter Ukraine on this trip,” NSC spokesman John Kirby said in an interview on MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart.”

But at that point, Biden had already lifted off from Joint Base Andrews hours before, not in the usual plane that is synonymous with Air Force One, but instead in a smaller Air Force C-32.

There would be a stop to refuel at a US base in Germany before continuing the flight into Poland. As he jetted eastward, Biden’s focus was plotting out his conversations with Zelensky, hoping to use his limited time wisely in discussing the coming months of fighting.

It was the culmination of a process that began months earlier, as Biden watched as a parade of his foreign counterparts each made the journey into Ukraine.

In the planning stages for this trip, Biden was presented with a range of options for a visit to Ukraine but decided that only the capital Kyiv made sense as a venue, a person familiar with the matter said.

The White House’s communications director said that Joe Biden wanted to take the risk. He directed his team to make it happen, even when it was hard, because he wanted to show up.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan refused to say if the Biden had to overrule the military or Secret Service in order to continue with the trip.

“He got a full presentation of a very good and very effective operational security plan. He heard about the presentation and made a decision to go, Sullivan said.

The First Day of Kiev War: Joe Biden and the U.S. Embedded in the American Revolution (Jets and Air Forces in Ukraine)

In the middle of the day, the President of the United States, wearing an overcoat and sunglasses, strolled through the city with Zelensky, who was standing in St Michael’s Square.

“President Biden has claimed the upper hand … and tomorrow Putin will have to reply to what happened today,” Rudik said, referring to a speech in which Putin is expected to rally the Russian people on Tuesday.

McCaul, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, complained on CNN Sunday that Washington had taken too long to send weaponry to Ukraine in the past and should not do the same with warplanes. Asked if the Biden administration was now considering the dispatch of F-16 fighter planes, the Texas Republican replied: “I hope so,” and added, “I think the momentum is building for this to happen.”

They would make it possible for the Ukrainians to potentially strike at Russian jets and air defense systems inside Russia. The risk of a disastrous Escalation of the Conflict was avoided by Biden but the use of NATO aircraft in such operations could prompt the Russians to conclude the alliance has been directly involved in the war.

A grueling and dangerous journey that required energy and endurance felt like a jab at critics who question whether Biden should be contemplating a reelection race at the age of 80.

There are many Americans on the right who agree that Biden has not done enough to secure the southern border and the issue will be at the center of the 2024 election. But Greene’s comment did not just exemplify the deterioration in civility in US politics. It was revealed from a pro Trump Republican that he has supported insurrectionists who tried to destroy American democracy.

This is not right. The President of the United States made the American people pay for war in Ukraine on today’s President’s Day. I can’t say how much people hate Joe Biden.

It is possible that standing for the US ideals of freedom and democracy and the right of a people to repel tyranny from a foreign oppressor is more important than being the president of the United States.

“Biden in [Kyiv]. Russian journalist Sergey Mardan wrote a response to him on his Telegram channel. Children may be left with memoirs of miraculous hypersonics. We are fighting a holy war with the entire West.

The Russian military veteran and former Federal Security Service officer, Igor Girkin, said that Biden could have escaped unharmed if he visited the frontlines in eastern Ukraine.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if the grandfather (he is not good for anything but simple provocations anyway) is brought to Bakhmut as well… AND NOTHING WILL HAPPEN TO HIM,” Girkin said.

A group of military blogosphere, with tens of thousands of followers and provided analysis of the conflict for large swaths of the Russian populace, have criticized what they see as a soft approach on the battlefield by Putin’s generals.

The debate over Biden’s visit will be unwelcome to Putin, who will on Tuesday make a major speech to the Federal Assembly in which he will discuss the ongoing invasion.

Participants of the special military operation will attend but no foreign people will be invited, a Kremlin spokeswoman told reporters Monday.

On Wednesday, the U.N. General Assembly will hold a special session. The Security Council discusses Nord Stream pipelines at Russia’s request. Russia’s parliament is going to hold extraordinary meetings.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy opened the Munich Security Conference, speaking via video link to attendees including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Vice President Kamala Harris. The vice president told the gathering that Russia had committed crimes against humanity.

The Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg warned NATO defense ministers that the Kremlin is ready for new offensives and attacks in the region.

Zelenskyy in Ukraine: From a Comedic Actor to the U.S. Senate After the March 24 February 2022

The Russian government has been operating a network of child custody centers that is a potential war crime, according to a Yale University team.

Russian soldiers were planning to kill or capture Zelenskyy the morning of Feb 24, 2022, while he was still in his apartment. The president decided to stay put.

Arestovych said, “We said ‘What about cruise missiles?’” “He said, ‘I’ll stay here.’” Arestovych says he raised the specter of Russian saboteurs and assassins. He says Zelenskyy again refused.

People had wondered if Zelenskyy would flee. Daria Kaleniuk, who runs the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a public watchdog group, pointed out that Zelenskyy had downplayed the threat of war and seemed unprepared. She says that it was a surprise for her that he stood his ground.

Zelenskyy became a household name in Ukraine as a comedic actor, TV star, film producer and entertainment mogul. He was running for office because he created a character for a tv show called Servant of the People.

A high school history teacher crusades against corruption and corrosive politics in her country. Zelenskyy’s character became a sensation when a student captured the rant on video and posted it on social media.

Zelenskyy was a sensation as a result of his victory, winning with more than 70% of the vote. He named his political party Servant of the People.

Zelenskyy promised to end the war with Russia in the east of the country as well as attack corruption during the campaign. Many thought that he would govern better than he did.

He stayed in Kyiv during the early days of the war, which helped change public opinion. By August, about 90% of Ukrainians said they approved of his job performance. The character actor understood the needs of the Ukrainian people.

Zelenskyy rallied international support. Six days into the invasion, he addressed the European parliament by video and brought the English interpreter to tears.

Speaking to the U.S. Congress in December, this time in English, he quoted another wartime leader, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, drawing huge rounds of applause.

“I believe that today in the information space there is too much information about a full-scale war,” said the president, standing in the middle of a street before a table stacked with microphones.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/20/1158150926/volodymyr-zelenskyy-president-ukraine-russia-war

Volodymyryry Zelenskyy: President of Ukraine’s Senate, a Ukrainian lawmaker in the Kherson region – or how Ukraine wound up

Chornovol served in Ukraine’s parliament from 2014 to 2019. Later, she joined the military. I met her in the Kherson region last fall, where her job was to fire small missiles at Russian armor.

Chornovol says that – before the war – the Ukrainian army left the route north of Kyiv open to invasion, even failing to mine bridges to stop a Russian advance.

“What was done was simply criminal,” said Chornovol, who proudly showed me her missile launcher which was camouflaged with Astroturf. There was no preparation for the invasion. Kyiv was not fortified in any way.”

Jack Watling, senior researcher in land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute in London, says a brigade and a half of troops were supposed to be deployed to the area, but weren’t. Ukrainian officers warned higher-ups the south was vulnerable to a Russian attack.

Because Ukraine is still at war, parliamentarians are careful not to launch attacks at each other. But Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, a Ukrainian lawmaker with the opposition European Solidarity party, says she and others will be asking tough questions about what happened in the south as soon as — she says — Ukraine defeats Russia.

The people blame the loss of the region on the SBU. Ivan Bakanov, Zelenskyy’s friend and the head of the SBU, was fired in July.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/20/1158150926/volodymyr-zelenskyy-president-ukraine-russia-war

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Zelenskyy’s Real Life During World War II: The Holocaust, the Holocaust and the Unification of Russia

She says that he’s a good president during war. “He’s not a very good president during a non-war period. His largest weakness is that he trusts people who are his friends and he is not tolerating different opinions.”

Alina Fialko-Smal was an actor there at the time. She says Zelenskyy used to watch her troupe perform and wanted to be a dramatic actor. Zelenskyy is under 6 feet tall.

Zelenskyy’s father is a renowned educator and Zelenskyy studied law at the institute. Natalya Voloshanyuk, a finance professor, recalls Volodymyr as clever, funny and self-confident.

“She said, ‘You should be proud that you study at this university,’ ” Voloshanyuk recalls, “to which he replied, ‘One day you will be proud that you taught me.’ “

“The Soviet Union collapsed and out of this anarchy, you can create something new,” Yermolenko says. “I think Zelenskyy’s one of one of those people. The good thing about these people is that they believe that you can create anything.

“People really recognize themselves in him, identify themselves with him, or he identifies himself with the people. And I think this is the most important thing.”

Joe Biden and the Cold War: How Long will he be in the United States? A Preliminary Report on Biden at the Royal Castle

Nearly a year later, Biden returns to the Royal Castle this week to mark the anniversary of a war that has increasingly put him directly at odds with the Russian leader, a Cold War dynamic underscored by Biden’s highly secretive visit to Kyiv a day earlier.

The war is now in its second year and appears poised to stretch another year, unlike the last time Biden was in Warsaw when Putin seemed to be taking a turn for the worse. There are currently no serious attempts to end the fighting.

Biden announced Monday he would join European nations in announcing new sanctions on Moscow and unveil another security assistance package on top of the tens of billions already committed this year.

“Freedom is priceless. For as long as it takes, it is worth fighting for. And that’s how long we’re going to be with you, Mr. President – for as long as it takes,” Biden told Zelensky in Kyiv on Monday.

Yet Biden – nor any other Western leader – has not been able to say exactly how long that will be, making this week as much about the year ahead as it is about the past 12 months.

The war has left an indelible mark on nearly all aspects of Biden’s presidency and he has left his mark on the war, from the billions of dollars in arms shipments to the newly invigorated Western alliance. It has caused political turmoil at home, caused convulsions in the global economy and provided Biden an opening to demonstrate his claim that America is back.

The Ukrainian people, along with the ineptitude of the Russian forces, have prevented a full takeover. The war has deteriorated into what NATO’s chief described as a “grinding war of attrition” without a clear end.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that it was wise to be prepared for a long war when he is in the US next month.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/21/politics/joe-biden-poland-trip/index.html

The Warsaw Crisis in the United States: What Do We Need Now? An Expert Panel Discussion on the Status of the Warsaw Effort

There are new concerns about the availability of weapons and materials in the past week, which indicates that the West can’t provide support forever, as reflected in the waning support for the war effort.

There is a concern that the US’s staying power will diminish if it leaves this administration. The managing director of the German Marshall Fund in Warsaw said this war would look different if the US hadn’t supported it.

“The fact is that we are fighting with time, right?” Baranowski said something. “I mean, it’s really whether time is on the side of Russia, who is losing but has a lot of resources to deplete us in the West. That gives me pause. I hope we have the staying power.”

In an indication of the massive number of refugees Poland has absorbed since the start of the war, his remarks will be translated into both Polish and Ukrainian.

John Kirby works for the National Security Council, and is in charge of strategic communications.