#Biden Visits Zelensky in Kyiv | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mariacallous · 5 months

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U.S. President Joe Biden has approved a new military aid package for Ukraine worth up to $100 million, the Pentagon announced on Nov. 20.

The U.S. Department of Defense said the new package includes Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and additional ammunition, 155-mm and 105-mm artillery shells, Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems, and over 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition.

The package also includes cold weather gear, spare parts, and demolition munitions for clearing obstacles.

This latest aid package utilizes assistance previously authorized for Ukraine under the Presidential Drawdown Authority that was left over from prior fiscal years, the Defense Department said.

Drawdowns entail the delivery of military equipment that was previously authorized and requires presidential authorization only, not a specific funding bill from the U.S. Congress.

The announcement came the same day as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Kyiv, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Austin met Zelensky "to reaffirm the United States' steadfast support for Ukraine," the Defense Secretary captioned the photo of their meeting.

Later this week, Austin will host a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein summit, to coordinate further military aid to Ukraine.

The defense secretary's visit comes after months of infighting in the U.S. Congress over government spending, including military aid for Ukraine.

Republicans in the Senate threatened to block the aid in early November unless there were security resolutions on the southern border of the U.S., leading to a standoff with Democrats.

U.S. President Joe Biden signed a temporary spending bill into law on Nov. 16, averting the impending government shutdown but leaving the issue of continued aid for Ukraine unaddressed.

The bill, passed by bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate, will fund the government through the end of the year in two staggered segments until Feb. 2 at the latest.

It earmarks money for the highest priority government expenditures but does not include funding for Ukraine, Israel, humanitarian aid for Palestinians, or increased border security.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said at a press conference on Nov. 14 that Congress would reconvene after Thanksgiving on Nov. 23 to try and pass a joint funding bill that contains aid for all four issues.

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ukrainenews · 1 year

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President Joe Biden slipped into Kyiv on Monday for the first time since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago, demonstrating in dramatic personal fashion his commitment to the country and its struggle as the war enters an uncertain new phase.

The highly secretive visit – which took place as air raid sirens could be heard ringing out around Kyiv while Biden walked alongside President Volodymyr Zelensky around the gold-domed St. Michael’s Cathedral – comes at a critical moment in the 12-month conflict, with Russia preparing for an expected spring offensive and Ukraine hoping to soon retake territory.

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.

#Breaking news #Ukraine

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 1 year

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 20, 2023

Heather Cox Richardson

We awoke this morning to news that President Joe Biden was in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he pledged “our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” Air raid sirens blared as Biden and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky walked through the streets during the U.S. president’s five-hour stay.

As National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters, Biden’s visit was the first time a U.S. president has visited “the capital of a country at war where the United States military does not control the critical infrastructure”…in other words, an active war zone. Biden traveled in a special mission plane from Germany to Poland, then took a train from Poland to Kyiv. To make sure there would be no attacks, the U.S. notified the Russians that Biden would be in Kyiv, but a Russian MiG 30 flew from Belarus during Biden’s visit, triggering air raid sirens.

According to Sullivan, Biden felt it was important to visit Kyiv at the anniversary of the 2022 Russian invasion. The image of Biden and Zelensky standing together sent a message to Russian president Vladimir Putin, as David Rothkopf put it in the Daily Beast: “I am here in Kyiv and you are not. You not only did not take Kyiv in days as some predicted, but your attack was rebuffed. Your army suffered a humiliating defeat from which it has not recovered.”

Just under a year ago, the global equation looked very different. On February 4, 2022, Chinese president Xi Jinping hosted Russian president Vladimir Putin on the opening day of the Winter Olympics. The two men pledged to work together in a partnership with “no limits” in a transparent attempt to counter U.S. global leadership and assert a new international order based on their own authoritarian systems.

At the time, Russia was massing troops on its border with Ukraine but fervently denied it was planning to invade. On February 24, 2022, Russian tanks rolled across the border and Russian planes covered them in the air. Biden remembered that Zelensky called him and said he could hear the explosions as they spoke. “I’ll never forget that,” Biden said. “The world was about to change.” When Biden asked what he could do to help, Zelensky said: “Gather the leaders of the world. Ask them to support Ukraine.”

And over 50 nations stepped up to make sure the rules-based international order in place since World War II, which prevents one country from attacking another, held. Those backing Ukraine against Russian aggression have squeezed Russia with economic sanctions and supported Ukraine with military and humanitarian aid. As Biden said today, standing next to Zelensky: “Kyiv stands and Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americans stand with you, and the world stands with you.”

Biden pledged another $460 million in aid to Ukraine, emphasizing that U.S. support for the country is bipartisan.

Biden mourned the cost Ukraine has had to bear, but championed its successes. “Russia’s aim was to wipe Ukraine off the map,” Biden said, but “Putin’s war of conquest is failing. Russia’s military has lost half its territory it once occupied. Young, talented Russians are fleeing by the tens of thousands, not wanting to come back to Russia. Not…just fleeing from the military, fleeing from Russia itself, because they see no future in their country. Russia’s economy is now a backwater, isolated and struggling.”

“Putin thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided,” Biden said. He remembered telling Zelensky that Putin was “counting on us not sticking together. He was counting on the inability to keep NATO united. He was counting on us not to be able to bring in others on the side of Ukraine.” While Biden didn’t say it, Putin had reason to think those things: the four years of the Trump administration had seen the U.S. offending allies and threatening to pull out of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that stands against Russian aggression.

“He thought he could outlast us,” Biden said. “I don’t think he’s thinking that right now…. [H]e’s just been plain wrong. Plain wrong.” A year later, Biden said, “We stand here together.”

“You and all Ukrainians…remind the world every single day what the meaning of the word ‘courage’ is—from all sectors of your economy, all walks of life. It’s astounding. Astounding.

You remind us that freedom is priceless; it’s worth fighting for for as long as it takes. And that’s how long we’re going to be with you, Mr. President: for as long as it takes.”

Zelensky answered, “We’ll do it.”

The world could stand behind Ukraine as it has because Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have held a coalition together and presented a united front with Zelensky and allies and partners in defense of democracy.

In contrast today, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) explicitly called for dividing the nation. She tweeted: “We need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government. Everyone I talk to says this.” For once I will spare you my usual lecture on how elite southern enslavers in the 1850s made this same argument because they resented the majority rule that threatened their ability to impose their will on their Black neighbors.

(I will note, though, that former representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) helpfully reviewed “some of the governing principles of America” for Greene, tweeting: “Our country is governed by the Constitution. You swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Secession is unconstitutional. No member of Congress should advocate secession, Marjorie.”)

What Greene had to say next is of more interest in this moment. The Munich Security Conference, the world’s largest gathering for international security discussions, has just reported that the Russian war on Ukraine is a war of authoritarianism on a rules-based international order. At that conference, Vice President Kamala Harris said the U.S. had determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity and noted that the bipartisan U.S. delegation to the conference was the largest we have ever sent. The U.S. president has just entered a war zone to declare U.S. support for democracy and is now in Poland, where he will speak with the leaders of the nine countries that make up NATO’s eastern flank and will deliver a speech that Blinken has described as “very significant.”

In contrast, Greene echoed authoritarian leaders Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Putin himself when she called for splitting the nation over “the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats” and “the Democrat’s [sic] traitorous America Last policies.” Authoritarian leaders insist that the equality that underpins liberal democracy threatens traditional society because it means that LGBTQ people, women, and minorities should have the same rights as white men. Greene appears to be taking the same position.

Meanwhile, Fox News Channel personalities, including Tucker Carlson, are trying to spin Biden’s visit to Ukraine as proof that he doesn’t care about the train derailment in Ohio. Scholar of disinformation behavior Caroline Orr Bueno noted: “There’s a narrative being planted here; watch how support for Ukraine is framed as incompatible with US national interests.” She notes that a similar narrative in Canada argues that support for Ukraine hurts Canadian veterans.

A filing in Dominion Voter Systems’ lawsuit against FNC for defamation revealed last week that FNC personalities knowingly lied to their viewers about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, acting as a propaganda outlet for Trump. This information is a handy backdrop for the news reported today by Mike Allen of Axios, who says that House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has given to FNC host Carlson—who figured prominently in the election fraud lies—exclusive access to 41,000 hours of footage from the U.S. Capitol of the January 6, 2021, attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. According to Allen, Carlson’s producers have already begun going through it to see what they can use on his show.

Putin is scheduled to address the Russian Federal Assembly tomorrow. Billboards in Russia proclaim: “Russia’s border ends nowhere,” but observers believe that he was hoping for a major victory on a battlefield in Ukraine before the speech. Instead, Russian forces have taken severe losses in their recent stalled offensive in eastern Ukraine near Bakhmut.

Biden’s speech in Poland will follow later in the day.

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Heather Cox Richardson #Letters From An American #Volodymyr Zelensky #Joe Biden #War in Ukriane #Authoritarian GOP #FOX News #Munich Security Conference #vp kamala harris

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beardedmrbean · 1 year

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Joe Biden has been slammed as a "dummy" for not following instructions during a military inspection in Poland.

The American president made a surprise trip to Ukraine this week as he visited Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, and the cameras were out in a big way as Biden then arrived in the Polish capital to make a key speech.

On Monday, he reviewed a military honor guard alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda outside the Presidential Palace as part of a welcoming ceremony. Biden was filmed moving off the red carpet during the inspection, as the Polish president and others guided him back onto it, which was picked up by some on social media.

Taking footage from Ruptly TV, some social media users like Matt Clark of Patriot One News shared a 12-second clip that showed President Biden's awkward moment.

"Oh FFS! Biden can't even follow simple walking directions while inspecting the Guard of Honor in Warsaw, Poland," Clark wrote before addressing the president. "You're supposed to stay ON the red carpet dummy!!"

The footage shows Biden walking alongside Duda on a red carpet wide enough for two people. As they reach the end of the line, they swing around to seemingly walk back the same way, but Biden appears to walk off to the left before he's urged by an aide to walk back the way he came along the carpet.

When one Twitter user pointed out that both presidents are walking off the carpet, Clark replied suggesting that's not the case. "Yeah, to save Joe the embarrassment. The guide literally points to the carpet hoping Joe would get back on it, but NOPE!" he wrote with another crying laughing emoji. Dozens of people commented on Clark's initial post with laughing emojis.

Clark wasn't the only one who was scathing in his assessment of Biden in Poland. "Someone come get their pappy," wrote the Twitter Blue subscriber Matt $RPatriot, as he claimed Biden looked "to be in a state of trance and lost."

"Guys trying to teach Biden how he's supposed to walk on the red carpet and it's not working!" wrote Twitter user @kung_fu_jedim retweeting the video. "What an embarrassment to our country, watching a dementia patient being paraded around like a toddler! The world thinks we're idiots!"

Dozens of people commented on Clark's initial post with laughing emojis.

Others stuck up for 80-year-old Biden during his frantic 48-hour trip to Eastern Europe. NBC Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel commented on Monday night that Biden is "showing a lot of stamina" before listing the details of his journey. "A secret visit to a warzone. Two ten hour train trips. A major speech in Poland. The travel alone would be exhausting," Engel wrote.

However, some Twitter users pointed to the video Clark shared as an example of him not showing great stamina. "You cannot be serious right now," one Twitter user wrote to Engel.

This latest clip of Biden, which was criticized by some, came after many had speculated Biden fell down the stairs of Air Force One after a blurry video showed someone tumbling down the steps. Newsweek confirmed that the person seen falling wasn't the president after a different video, shared to YouTube by ABC News, showed that Biden walked down the steps of the plane without falling.

Biden visited Zelensky in Kyiv on Monday, with the months of security planning only being signed off officially on Friday. The White House social media accounts shared details of how it happened, as he landed in Poland, took a 10-hour train into Kyiv, before leaving again over five hours later.

#nunyas news

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workersolidarity · 1 year

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Totally creepy! This is one of the most obvious and bizarre attempts at cheap war propaganda I've seen in my lifetime!

For the record: No Russian missile strikes occurred on or anywhere NEAR Kyiv at the time of Biden's visit. In fact, as the Administration itself has admitted, the Russians were notified of the President's visit ahead of time, and all was quiet in Kyiv for days before the visit.

Yet, as soon as Biden and Zelensky step out, like a cheap Hollywood film, the air sirens blast right on cue.

Just a cheap attempt at deception in order to continue the Biden Administration effort to manufacture consent for a war involving Russia and China.

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libertariantaoist · 11 months

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News Roundup 6/7/2023 | The Libertarian Institute

Here is your daily roundup of today's news:

News Roundup 6/7/2023

by Kyle Anzalone

US News

The State Department has falsely accused rock legend, Roger Waters, a co-founder of Pink Floyd, of antisemitism over a recent performance in Germany. AWC

The Treasury Department announced sanctions on two members of a Mexican cartel. UPI

Russia

The New York Times reported Tuesday that the Biden administration has “shrugged off” Ukrainian attacks inside Russia as US officials are no longer as concerned about escalation as they were earlier in the war. AWC

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Monday that his government is asking Ukraine if Belgian rifles were used by pro-Kyiv fighters in a recent attack on Russia’s Belgorod region. AWC

US officials confirmed to The Washington Post that US and other NATO equipment was used in a cross-border attack in Russia’s Belgorod region that was launched on May 22. AWC

On Monday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said Ukraine was “well prepared” to launch a counteroffensive against Russian forces thanks to the support the US and NATO have provided. AWC

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Saturday that his country will sit out the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius this July if Kyiv is not given a “signal” toward full membership in the alliance. AWC

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the US received intelligence in June 2022 about a Ukrainian plot to bomb the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline that connects Russia to Germany. AWC

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that Moscow must keep in mind that American-made F-16 fighter jets are capable of carrying nuclear weapons. AWC

China

CIA Director William Burns held “clandestine” meetings with Chinese intel agencies during an unannounced trip to Beijing last month, US officials told the Financial Times, suggesting the visit was intended to “stabilize” deteriorating relations with the People’s Republic. The Institute

The White House on Monday accused the Chinese military of being more “aggressive” in waters near China’s coast following two encounters between the US and Chinese militaries in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. AWC

French President Emmanuel Macron objects to NATO’s plans to open a liaison office in Japan and thinks the alliance should stay in the North Atlantic, Financial Times reported on Monday. AWC

The US, Japan and Australia announced a joint plan to build undersea cables. The project will cost about $100 million and viewed by the nations as a counter to China. Fox News

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday that he wants Congress to pass a supplemental spending bill this year to address so-called threats from China, Defense News reported. AWC

The commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral John Aquilino, highlighted the military’s threatening posture towards China, speaking at the annual meeting of the National Committee on US-China Relations last month. The group is known for encouraging engagement between the world’s two largest economies. The Institute

Middle East

Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Summit on Monday and pledged Washington’s “ironclad” support for Tel Aviv. Part of the White House’s plan to strengthen Israel’s security would be to push Saudi Arabia into a normalization agreement with Israel. The Institute

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ramped up his threats of war against Iran and slammed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, for cooperating with Tehran on Sunday. The Institute

On Tuesday, Iran reopened its embassy in Saudi Arabia after a seven-year closure, the result of the normalization deal between Tehran and Riyadh that was brokered by China. AWC

The Treasury Department placed sanctions on seven people and six entities for supporting Iran missile program. UPI

#kyle anzalone #libertarian institute #news roundup

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trustednewstribune · 1 year

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Arrest Warrant Against Vladimir Putin Over Ukraine War Crime Allegations

Russia is not a party to the ICC so it was unclear if or how Vladimir Putin could ever end up in the dock.

The Hague: The International Criminal Court on Friday announced an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on the war crime accusation of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.

The Hague-based ICC said it had also issued a warrant against Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's presidential commissioner for children's rights, on similar charges.

Moscow dismissed the orders as "void." Russia is not a party to the ICC so it was unclear if or how Putin could ever end up in the dock.

War-battered Ukraine welcomed the ICC announcement, with President Volodymyr Zelensky hailing the "historic decision."

The court's shock notice came hours after other news with the potential to significantly impact Russia's war on Ukraine, including a Moscow visit from Chinese leader Xi Jinping and more fighter jets for Kyiv's forces.

More than 16,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia since the February 24, 2022 invasion, according to Kyiv, with many allegedly placed in institutions and foster homes.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan told AFP that Putin was now liable for arrest if he set foot in any of the court's more than 120 member states.

He said the arrest warrants were "based upon forensic evidence, scrutiny and what's been said by those two individuals".

"The evidence we presented focused on crimes against children. Children are the most vulnerable part of our society," said Khan.

The ICC said judges found there were "reasonable grounds" to suspect Putin's criminal responsibility and grant Khan's application for the warrants, which were made back on February 22.

ICC President Piotr Hofmanski said the execution of the warrants "depends on international cooperation".

'Historic decision'

During a meeting with Putin in mid-February, Lvova-Belova said she adopted a 15-year-old child from the devastated Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

"Now I know what it means to be a mother of a child from Donbas -- it is a difficult job but we love each other, that is for sure," she told Putin.

She added that "we evacuated children's homes into safe areas, arranged rehabilitation and prosthetics for them and provided them with targeted humanitarian assistance."

The arrest warrant for Putin, a sitting head of state of a UN Security Council member, is an unprecedented step for the ICC.

Set up in 2002, the ICC is a court of last resort for the world's worst crimes, when countries cannot or will not prosecute suspects.

Prosecutor Khan launched an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine just days after Russia's invasion.

Khan recently posted pictures from a visit to Ukraine alongside empty cots in an empty children's care home, and said that investigating alleged child abduction was a "priority".

"It's poignant," he said. "One sees empty cribs and empty beds juxtaposed with paintings by those children on the walls."

Zelensky, who met Khan on his visit, welcomed the arrest warrants for his nemesis in Moscow.

"A historic decision from which historic responsibility will begin," Zelensky said.

Ukraine's Western allies also hailed the move.

US President Joe Biden said the warrant was "justified," and "makes a very strong point," while noting that the United States is not a member of the ICC.

"There is no doubt that Russia is committing war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, and we have been clear that those responsible must be held accountable," a State Department spokesperson said. "The ICC Prosecutor is an independent actor."

Britain called the decision "welcome" and the European Union said it was "just the start." Human Rights Watch said it was a "big day for the many victims" of Russian forces.

'Void'

The Kremlin dismissed the warrants.

"Russia, just like a number of different countries, does not recognise the jurisdiction of this court and so from a legal point of view, the decisions of this court are void," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev compared the warrants to toilet paper, while foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said they "have no meaning" for Russia.

The ICC's Khan however said there were "so many examples of people that thought they were beyond the reach of the law".

"Look at (Slobodan) Milosevic or Charles Taylor or (Radovan) Karadzic or (Ratko) Mladic," he said, referring to a series of war criminals from the former Yugoslavia, and former Liberian president Taylor, who have faced justice.

Earlier in the day, Beijing and Moscow announced that Chinese leader and strategic ally Xi would be in Russia next week to sign accords ushering in a new era of ties.

The United States has accused China of mulling arms shipments to support Russia's campaign -- claims Beijing has strongly denied.

The arrest warrants come a day after UN investigators said Russia's forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children to areas under its control amounts to a war crime.

The investigators said parents and children had spoken of youngsters being informed by Russian social services that they would be placed in foster families or adopted.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine are members of the ICC, but Kyiv has accepted the court's jurisdiction and is working with Khan's office.

Russia denies allegations of war crimes by its troops. Experts have said it is unlikely it would ever hand over any suspects.

With fighting still raging in Ukraine, Kyiv welcomed the news Friday that Slovakia will donate 13 MiG-29 warplanes.

Ukraine has long requested fighter jets from Western allies, although it is seeking primarily modern US-made F-16s.

#Vladimir Putin #Ukraine War

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allthebrazilianpolitics · 11 months

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How to Understand Brazil’s Ukraine Policy

Like it or not, Lula’s stance reflects legitimate misgivings about the global order.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s honeymoon with the West ended remarkably quickly. After Brazil weathered four turbulent years under right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro, Lula’s narrow electoral victory last October and inauguration in January were met with relief in most capitals around the world. And when it comes to strengthening multilateralism and fighting deforestation, Brazil did quickly go back to normal: An early string of diplomatic meetings between Lula and his counterparts in Argentina, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States sealed Brazil’s return to the global stage, while several governments announced financial contributions to the reactivated Amazon Fund, which had been suspended under Bolsonaro.

But Lula’s position on Russia’s war in Ukraine has frustrated policymakers across the West and may limit Brazil’s foreign-policy bandwidth on other issues. While Lula’s eagerness to lead negotiations to end the conflict may be well-intentioned, his frequent controversial public statements on the subject are risky—and could generate permanent friction between Brazil and its Western partners precisely as Brasília seeks to earn a seat at the table of powerful nations.

Lula argued in early April that Ukraine should consider ceding the Crimean Peninsula to negotiate peace with Russia, saying that “Zelensky cannot want it all.” His contention that the United States has prolonged the war, made during a trip to China, echoes the Russian government’s narrative. Lula also claimed that Kyiv and Moscow were equally responsible for the conflict.

But during a subsequent trip to Europe, Lula seemed to temporarily back down from this statement—and recognized that Ukraine was the war’s “great victim.” Brazilian diplomats were also quick to remind their European counterparts that Brazil had been the only member of the BRICS grouping (which also includes Russia, India, China, and South Africa) to support a Feb. 23 United Nations Assembly resolution calling on Russia to pull its troops out of Ukraine.

Western countries have been highly critical of Lula’s rhetoric. The Biden administration condemned the Brazilian president’s claim that Washington needed to “stop encouraging war,” saying that Lula was “parroting” Russian and Chinese propaganda. The Ukrainian government responded that Brazil’s claims were “not in line with the real state of affairs” and urged Lula to visit and “understand the real causes” of the war, adding, “Ukraine does not trade its territories.”

Despite being welcomed by several observers, Lula’s ambition to play a mediating role in Ukraine is unlikely to prosper without the West’s blessing—and Ukraine’s recognition of Brazil as an impartial actor. Yet Western leaders would still do well to understand the roots of Brasília’s thinking. After all, the global south’s reluctance to align with the West on Ukraine is indicative of broader dynamics in north-south relations and may well dictate the future of the global order.

#brazil #politics #ukraine #russia #brazilian politics #ukraine crisis #foreign policy #international politics #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

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mariacallous · 4 months

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Kyiv Post has discovered that Samuel Charap, one of the most prominent Ukraine skeptics among American foreign policy analysts,has been a regular visitor to the White House’s National Security Council (NSC) during the past three years of the Biden Administration. Charap has been a stalwart advocate of Kyiv negotiating with Moscow since the early days of Russia’s invasion in 2014 and a frequent voice in media and international political circles questioning the logic of arming Ukraine.

The NSC, which operates from the West Wing of the White House, is headed by Jake Sullivan, who is Biden’s point man on Ukraine, under whom Charap earlier worked at the US State Department’s Policy Planning Staff before becominga political scientist at the largely US government-financed Rand Corporation.

In the publicly available White House visitor log, one of Charap’s most recent visits, on July 17, 2023, was listed as an appointment with Jonathan Finer, Deputy National Security Advisor under Sullivan.

Here are some examples of his most recent writings, especially since Feb. 24, 2022. They clearly demonstrate an ongoing opposition to arming Ukraine and call instead for negotiations with Russia:

As hundreds of thousands of Russian troops amassed along the Ukrainian border in January 2022, Samuel Charap published an article for Foreign Policy titled, “The West’s Weapons Won’t Make Any Difference to Ukraine,” arguing that “US military equipment wouldn’t realistically help Ukrainians – or intimidate Putin,” which closely echoed previous statements from Charap.

Back in 2014, half-a-year after Russia began its illegal invasion and occupation of Crimea and the Donbas in Eastern Ukraine, Charap wrote a piece for Foreign Policy called “Why Ukraine Must Bargain for Peace With Russia: “The ‘let’s make a deal’ moment has arrived for Kiev [sic] and Moscow. But by pushing a hard-line agenda against Putin, the United States and Europe are only making things worse for Ukraine,” he said, contending that “Ukraine needs to make a deal with Russia if it wants to survive this crisis.”

In 2016, after the initial invasion had sunk in, Charap and Jeremy Shapiro authored “How to Avoid a New Cold War” for the Brookings Institute, in which they seemingly blame the West for Putin’s illegal actions: “The response thus far has seemed more focused on punishing Russia and its leaders for their moral transgressions than on addressing the problems in Western-Russian relations that led to this impasse.”

In the summer of 2023, as President Zelensky was thanking Denmark for committing to send F-16s to Ukraine, Charap published another opinion piece, “An Unwinnable War: Washington Needs an Endgame in Ukraine” criticizing the West for being more focused on providing military aid and economic assistance than a diplomatic resolution.

In “Should Ukraine Negotiate with Russia,” published by Foreign Affairs in July 2023, Charap argued, “But in international politics, one does not get to choose one’s interlocutors. And there is no plausible path to ending the war that does not entail engaging Moscow. So eventually, Washington, Kyiv, Berlin, and others will have to try. This would not be the first time the United States talked to a nefarious regime with a history of deceit in order to stop a war.”

The New Yorker magazine’s The Case for Negotiating with Russia in August 2023 quotes Charap as saying “It’s not necessarily that I think Ukraine needs to make concessions,” but “I don’t see the alternative to that eventually happening.” Meanwhile, in the fall of 2023, as US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Gen. Mark Milley was touting that Ukraine had successfully liberated over 54 percent of Russian-occupied Ukraine and they continue to retain the strategic initiative.

Finally, Charap has been a vocal supporter of a Korean War-type armistice, where there is no declared end or victory. It should be noted, however, that an ongoing conflict would preclude Ukraine from qualification to become a NATO member, a central objective of President Zelensky’s government.

Given the controversial nature of Charap’s commentary over the years, there is plenty of reason for concern, as it becomes known that the White House visitor log shows him as visiting staff a total of three times in 2021, and nine in 2022. In 2023, he visited the White House at least eight times, however, not all 2023 records have yet been published by the Federal Government.

Most meetings were small. However, one meeting in August 2022 had 86 attendees recorded on the government roster, including President Biden.

What changes in US foreign policy Charap influenced is not fully known. However, as murmurs abound that the US has abandoned the “for as long as it takes” promise, potentially in an attempt to coerce Kyiv into a negotiating posture, the role that staunchly pro-negotiation Charap has played will come further under the microscope.

When Kyiv Post contacted Samuel Charap’s office with a set of questions, he largely brushed us off with the exception of a few responses like these:

Kyiv Post: Given past successes and failures for Putin with international agreements, why do you think an agreement with Ukraine now would be effective? And what would you see as an effective mechanism for punishing breach of contract?

Charap: It is not possible to assess the effectiveness of a hypothetical agreement before negotiations have even begun. There are a range of mechanisms that have been used to address non-compliance with international agreements. The snapback clauses in the JCPOA are one example.

Kyiv Post: For the US today, do you prioritize encouraging and supporting negotiations over supplying arms to Ukraine? How have your thoughts on this question changed since Feb 2022? Since 2014?

Charap: Please see [reference to a piece in Foreign Affairs], which says, in part:

“Starting talks does not require stopping the fight. Conducting negotiations is not the opposite of applying coercive pressure. In fact, negotiations are the means by which states can turn that pressure into leverage to accomplish their goals. As Thomas Schelling wrote in his classic ‘Arms and Influence’: ‘The power to hurt is bargaining power. To exploit it is diplomacy – vicious diplomacy, but diplomacy.’ Talks are an instrument for a warring state to further the same objectives it seeks on the battlefield. Historically, they have often taken place during periods of intense fighting. Nowhere in my article do I suggest that Ukraine would have to stop fighting – or that the West would have to cease supporting that fight – in order to start talks.”

Kyiv Post asked Tomasz Nadrowski, host of the “Tyranny Today” podcast to comment on Charap’s responses.

“The problem with both of Charap’s responses here is that they make too many general assumptions about geopolitical negotiations in general, and certainly too many assumptions when it comes to the triangle of relationships between the US, Ukraine and Russia,” he said.

The Polish-born US foreign affairs specialist elaborated:“First of all, Charap assumes that Putin is willing to negotiate in good faith. Second, he assumes that Ukrainians want to negotiate. He also makes assumptions about Russia’s willingness to commit to a set of achievable goals for negotiations; this is a problem given that Russia’s publicly stated goals for the conflict have changed over and over again from the removal of neo-nazism to fighting Western domination to expansionist plans to roll farther into Eastern Europe. Ukraine, on the other hand, had been steadfast in stating its goals with President Zelensky’s well-documented 10-point peace plan.”

Nadrowski, concludes: “Finally, I will say that it’s naive, given all I said above, to think that Ukraine and Russia should or even could participate in serious formal negotiations today. But there are certainly back-channel means for the two nations to hold discussions that could set the stage for future negotiations. In fact, I would be stunned if those back-channel conversations aren’t going on as I write this. On the other hand, if those back-channel conversations are happening, these views expressed by Mr. Charap on Ukraine/Russia negotiations, particularly when also stated in prestigious publications like Foreign Affairs and the New Yorker, might actually do a lot more harm than good.”

The White House could not be reached for comment.

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parttimereporter · 1 year

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BIDEN MAKES SURPRISE VISIT TO UKRAINE

AP DISPATCH FROM KYIV:

President Joe Biden paid an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Monday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a defiant display of Western solidarity with a country still fighting what he called “a brutal and unjust war” days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

“One year later, Kyiv stands,” Biden declared after meeting Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace. Jamming his finger for emphasis on his podium, against a backdrop of three flags from each country, he continued: “And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americans stand with you, and the world stands with you.”

Biden spent more than five hours in the Ukrainian capital, consulting with Zelenskyy on next steps, honoring the country’s fallen soldiers and seeing U.S. embassy staff in the besieged country.

This is how the DAILY BEAST heralded the surprise trip:

Joe Biden arrived in ten hours on a train ride from Poland normally priced at $50 to celebrate Presidents’ Day with Voldoymyr Zelensky. Wearing his signature Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses, Amtrak Joe strolled the capital’s streets accompanied by the promise of an additional $500 million in weapons for Ukraine and the blare of klaxons warning of a possible Mig-31 jet fighter heading south from Belarus and armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile. The Ukrainian military has no defense against attack from hypersonic missiles.

MORE..

According to AFP, the alarm was heard when Biden and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, flanked by armed security, were exiting St Michael’s Cathedral where the leaders had a meeting. The siren did not cause any panic, the news agency said...

#biden #world war iii #ukraine #russia

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 1 year

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 20, 2023

Heather Cox Richardson

Biden pledged another $460 million in aid to Ukraine, emphasizing that U.S. support for the country is bipartisan.

“You and all Ukrainians…remind the world every single day what the meaning of the word ‘courage’ is—from all sectors of your economy, all walks of life. It’s astounding. Astounding.

You remind us that freedom is priceless; it’s worth fighting for for as long as it takes. And that’s how long we’re going to be with you, Mr. President: for as long as it takes.”

Zelensky answered, “We’ll do it.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson #War in Ukraine #Biden #Zelensky #Presidents Day

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usafphantom2 · 1 year

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See how was the secret mission that made Joe Biden arrive in Ukraine without Air Force One

Surprisingly, the U.S. president visited the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. For the last part of the trip, Joe Biden renounced plane transport.

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 02/21/2013 - 12:40 PM in Military, War Zones

The world was surprised on Monday (20/02) when U.S. President Joe Biden visited Kiev, Ukraine, for the first time since the beginning of the war, almost a year ago. Biden did not land at Kiev airport, arriving in the Ukrainian capital through a well-planned operation and executed in a few hours.

Biden did not fly to Kyiv-Boryspil Airport or any of the other airports in or around the Ukrainian capital because he is very risky in the country that has been covered by the war by Russia for almost a year.

According to several news agencies, Biden took off from Andrews Joint Air Base, southeastern Washington with a Boeing C-32 at 04:15 local time, on February 19 - with the so-called "SAM060" (SAM for Special Air Mission) instead of the usual "Air Force One".

In addition to the employees on board the modified 757, there were only a few journalists selected on board who previously had to deliver their mobile phones. They were informed on Friday and instructed to wait for details on Saturday, with the subject: "Arrival instructions for the golf tournament".

They were instructed to arrive at Andrews air base at 2:15 a.m. local time on Sunday. Both were prohibited from reporting any details for 24 hours.

Several hours before Biden's visit, the sky over Poland was visited by two U.S. Air Force AWACS E-3B Sentry jets and a single Boeing RC-135W 'Rivet Joint' signal intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft. Routine air traffic scanning can easily be interpreted as preparations for the announced visit of the President of the U.S. (POTUS) to Poland, which was announced to take place between February 21 and 22.

A whole series of aircraft is available to the U.S. government. At the Munich security conference last weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris and her delegation traveled with two jets - a Boeing C-32 and a Boeing C-40 Clipper, a military version of the 737-700.

U.S. President Joe Biden on the right and his national security advisor Jake Sullivan on board the train to Kiev. (Photo: AP/ Evan Vucci)

The flight made a stop to refuel after about seven hours in Ramstein, Germany, then landing at Rzeszow-Jesionka airport in Poland, at 7:57 p.m. local time. From there, Biden drove in a car convoy to Przemysl Glówny, where he got on a train that took him to Kiev on a trip that lasted It is the same route used to transport large amounts of aid and hundreds of thousands of refugees going in the opposite direction.

U.S. President Joe Biden after arriving by train in Kiev. (Photo: AP/Evan Vucci)

The train arrived around 8 a.m. in Kiev, where Biden met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

On the morning of February 20, Kiev was surprisingly quiet. Public transport was partially interrupted in the city center and public spaces released.

Finally, around 12 p.m. local time, the first filming of President Joe Biden leaving the monastery of São Miguel along with President Volodymyr Zelensky was published on social networks.

Zelensky and Biden honored the Ukrainian soldiers killed during the conflict, since operations in Donbass in 2014, at St. Michael's Monastery and took a short tour of the city.

The leaders held a joint press conference where strong words were shared by Biden condemning the Russian aggression and emphasizing Western solidarity with Ukraine. Biden said:

"When Putin launched his invasion almost a year ago, he thought that Ukraine was weak and the West was divided. He thought he could survive us. But he was completely wrong.

President Joe Biden leaves Air Force One upon arriving at a military airport in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, February 20, 2023. (Photo: AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The visit also announced promises of delivery of new equipment totaling US$ 500 million. The U.S. will provide more artillery equipment along with HIMARS ammunition and new sanctions will also be imposed on individuals and companies still operating in Russia, supporting their invasion of Ukraine. Biden also announced other “critical equipment”, including anti-shielded systems and air surveillance radars. But no combat jets yet.

The media audience was only allowed to make the itinerary public when Biden had already left again - again by railroad towards Poland. On the night of the 20th, Biden landed in Warsaw with the C-32 aircraft.

The White House national security consultant told the American media that Russia was informed “some hours” before Biden’s trip to Kiev. This was done "to mitigate the situation". He did not go into detail about how accurate or vague the information was and how Moscow reacted.

Overview of a Boeing C-32 Air Force One aircraft at Jasionka Airport, Poland, on February 20, 2023. (Photo: Patryk Ogorzalek/Agencja Wyborcza.pl via REUTERS)

POTUS' visit to Ukraine signals the West's continued support for Kiev. With the official statement of the White House noting that “last year, the United States built a coalition of nations from the Atlantic to the Pacific to help defend Ukraine with unprecedented military, economic and humanitarian support – and that support will last.”

Tags: Military AviationC-32AUSAF - United States Air Force / US Air ForceWar Zones - Russia/Ukraine

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.