The Case of Kevin B. Biden: Fighting the Crimes of Ukraine in a Biden-Induced F-16 Counteroffensive
The complicated reality of America’s oldest president was brought to the fore as Congress approved a bipartisan deal to avoid a national default. Kevin McCarthy testified that Mr. Biden was very professional, very smart and tough during their talks. Yet just before the voting got underway, Mr. Biden tripped over a sandbag at the Air Force Academy commencement, plunging to the ground. The video went viral, his supporters cringed and his critics pounced.
And then there was the time a few weeks ago when the president was hosting children for Take Your Child to Work Day and became mixed up as he tried to list his grandchildren. “So, let me see. I have two in New York and one in Philadelphia. No, three, because I got one granddaughter who is — I don’t know. You’re confusing me.” He blanked out the last country he had traveled to and the name of a favorite movie.
When President Biden awoke at 3 a.m. while traveling to Asia, he discovered that a missile had hit Poland, touching off a panic that Russia might have expanded its actions in the aftermath of theUkraine conflict. The president of Poland, the NATO secretary general, and Mr. Biden consulted with his top advisers after dark to deal with the crisis.
One of the main discussion topics between Mr. Biden and Ms. Frederiksen, according to the White House, involved Ukraine’s demand for American-made F-16 warplanes. In late May of this year, Mr. Biden agreed to give the planes out of fear they could be used to hit Russian territory, after months of resisting pressure to do so.
“The president is confident that we did everything we could over the past six, eight months or more to make sure that they had all the equipment, training or capabilities,” Mr. Kirby said.
John F. Kirby, a White House spokesman, told reporters on Monday that he could not say whether the Ukrainian counteroffensive had officially started, but he added that the Biden administration had done all it could to provide support to get Kyiv ready.
The West will need to move forward in lock step as the Ukrainians step up their battles against Russia, at a pivotal point in time.
For the past 16 months, Mr. Biden has helped keep key Western allies of the United States in agreement over the need to provide aid to Kyiv, despite softening domestic support for the war and amid conflicting opinions among other leaders about how best to arm Ukraine.
Denmark is one of several countries whose leaders have signaled that they would be open to either transfer F-16s from their own stockpiles or provide pilot training. Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway have also indicated that they would be willing to help.
President Biden hosted the Prime Minister of Denmark on Monday in hopes of finding a solution to the situation in Ukraine where it is believed that Kyiv may be stepping up its offensive.
On the State of Ukraine (NPR): Ukraine’s newest armed forces fighting in Ukraine, and the latest missile attacks in Ukraine
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.
On the State of Ukraine podcast: The Ukrainian fighters preparing to retake key land from Russia. Russia’s resilient economy is being affected by international sanctions.
Russia continued to assault Ukranian. Many of the missile strikes and drones shot down by the Ukrainian air defense caused damage and casualties. The largest drone attack in Kyiv since the invading army began in 2022 lasted more than five hours and left one person dead, according to Ukrainian officials. A child and two women were killed in a missile attack.
A NATO summit will take place in Slovakia on Tuesday. The group called Russia the most significant and direct security threat due to its invasion of Ukraine.
NATO’s chief hopes to bring Sweden into the military alliance this month, but has yet to get Turkey and Hungary to agree.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/05/1177562432/russia-ukraine-war-news
The U.S. is ready for the end of the DRone war in Ukraine: Ukraine’s “rightful place” is in NATO
Drone strikes targeted Moscow, lightly damaging several apartment buildings. The Ukrainian authorities are happy but they did not claim responsibility for the attack.
Cleverly claimed that Ukraine had the right to strike outside its borders. The remark conveyed a harder stance than has been said by the U.S. The former president of Russia warned any British officials could be considered as a legitimate military target.
Europe has mixed views on Ukraine’s bid to join NATO. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Ukraine’s “rightful place” is in NATO, and France is pushing for a clear path for Ukraine to join the alliance. But Germany put a damper on things, saying this is not the time to talk about it in the midst of war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted it would be impossible to join during the war.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry issued a video showing troops putting a finger to their lips to keep silent. Accompanying text said, “There will be no announcement of the start.” There was suspense built up by the messaging about the counteroffensive. Earlier in the week, Zelenskyy told The Wall Street Journal, “we are ready.”