While Antony Blinken spoke highly of Ukraine’s will to fight in his interview with ABC News, he declined to say whether he thought the war would still be raging this time next year.
Here’s more from his appearance:
Continue reading...‘You’re the frontlines of our collective defense,’ Biden tells Bucharest Nine group of eastern European countries on last day of trip
Joe Biden on Wednesday night condemned as a “big mistake” Russian president Vladimir Putin’s decision to suspend his country’s participation in the last remaining US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty.
The comment came as the US president closed out his wartime visit to Europe, working to shore up partnerships with allies on Nato’s perilous eastern flank – even as Putin was drawing closer to China for help as his invasion of Ukraine neared the year mark.
Continue reading...Former president heading to East Palestine, Ohio, after loosening safety regulations for rail operators
Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg will visit East Palestine, Ohio on Thursday, Politico reports.
He’ll receive an update from the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the freight derailment that spilled toxic chemicals in the community, according to the report, which cites a person familiar with his plans.
Continue reading...Proposal prompted comparisons to Trump’s policies to limit asylum for migrants, which Biden had pledged to reverse
Democrats and immigration advocates harshly criticized Joe Biden over a new proposal that could stop migrants claiming asylum when they arrive at the US-Mexico border. One advocate said the move would cause “unnecessary human suffering”.
The pushback came after the Biden administration unveiled a proposal that would deny asylum to migrants who arrive without first seeking it in one of the countries they passed through.
Continue reading...Administration’s most aggressive plan yet would bar most migrants who hadn’t sought protection in other countries first
The United States could bar tens of thousands of migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border from claiming asylum under a proposal unveiled on Tuesday that would be the most wide-ranging attempt yet by Joe Biden’s administration to deter unauthorized crossings.
Under the new rules, the US would generally deny asylum to migrants who show up at the US southern border without first seeking protection in a country they passed through, mirroring an attempt by the Trump administration that never took effect because it was blocked in court.
Continue reading...Comments from right wing are business as usual – but could signal future political battles to come if US to keep sending aid to Ukraine
For Joe Biden to safely visit Ukraine, the White House spirited him out of the country in the middle of the night and made reporters traveling with him swear a temporary oath of secrecy – none of which could protect the president from attacks by Republicans.
The journey was only complicated further by an unexpected announcement. In a speech marking a year since he sent his armies over Ukraine’s borders in an ill-fated attempt to take Kyiv, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced his country would no longer participate in the last nuclear arms control treaty with the United States still standing, and accused the west of posing an existential threat to his country.
Continue reading...Speaking before a crowd of thousands in the gardens of Warsaw’s Royal Castle, Joe Biden hailed the resilience of Ukraine’s people and the benevolence of Poland and other western allies in helping fend off the Russian invasion.
“Autocrats only understand one word: no.” Biden said. “No, you will not take my country. No, you will not take my freedom. No, you will not take my future. I’ll repeat tonight what I said last year at the same place. A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never be able to ease the people’s love of liberties. Brutality will never grind down the will of the free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, never.”
Continue reading...US president issues rallying cry in Warsaw but warns of ‘very bitter days’ ahead in defence of democracy
Joe Biden has claimed Vladimir Putin’s year of war against Ukraine has left behind “burned-out tanks and Russian forces in disarray” but he also warned of “very bitter days” ahead in the defence of democracy in eastern Europe.
Biden issued a rallying cry in a speech to mark the first anniversary of the full-scale invasion, addressing a crowd of 30,000, mostly Poles and Ukrainians, in front of the arches below Warsaw’s royal castleon Tuesday evening.
Continue reading...Visit to Ukraine is a defining moment for the US president but foreign policy does not necessarily win elections
John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan had their speeches in Berlin. Joe Biden now has Kyiv, a moment to define his presidency and its era.
There was no one phrase in Biden’s remarks in Kyiv to match Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” in 1963 or Reagan’s “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall” in 1987, but the trip itself was the statement. As the White House underlined repeatedly on Monday, there was no precedent in modern times. Visits to the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq were different, as the US military ran security in those countries.
Continue reading...Visit is unwelcome twist for Vladimir Putin as he prepares state of the nation address to mark invasion’s anniversary
The Kremlin has met Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Ukraine with official silence, as analysts and pundits suggested the US leader’s historic trip was an unwelcome twist ahead of a speech by Vladimir Putin and other state events set to mark the anniversary of the full-scale invasion.
Biden’s surprise trip to Ukraine has undercut the Kremlin narrative that the west’s support for Ukraine is waning, with promises of another $500m (£415m) in military aid and fresh sanctions set to be imposed before the end of the week.
Continue reading...Details emerge of how White House planned ‘unprecedented’ visit and meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskiy
The White House notified the Kremlin of Joe Biden’s intention to visit Kyiv hours before he departed for Ukraine, it has been revealed, as the details began to emerge of how the US president pulled off his high-profile diplomatic coup.
Meticulously planned over several months by a tight circle of key advisers, Biden’s visit was described as “unprecedented in modern times” by his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, on the grounds that it was the first time a US president had visited “the capital of the country at war where the United States military does not control the critical infrastructure”.
Continue reading...US president pledges $500m in help for Ukraine while west prepares next phase of sanctions against Russia
Joe Biden has promised further military aid for Ukraine worth $500m (£415m) during his unannounced visit to Kyiv, as EU foreign ministers met in Brussels to discuss ways to accelerate the provision of ammunition.
The US president also said additional sanctions would be announced this week against Russia’s elite and companies trying to evade existing sanctions in order to “back the Russian war machine”.
Continue reading...President lost weight since last year, but still suffers from arthritis and had small lesion removed from chest during annual check-up
Doctors declared Joe Biden, 80, healthy and “fit for duty” on Thursday after a physical examination that included removing a lesion from his chest and declaring him free of symptoms of long Covid after his bout last year with the virus.
“The president remains fit for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations,” White House physician Kevin O’Connor said in a summary of the health exam.
Continue reading...‘Private companies’ conclusion set to fuel criticism that downings were overreaction amid pressure over initial balloon discovery
Joe Biden has broken his silence on unknown aerial objects shot down over North America during the past week, assessing that they were “most likely” operated by private companies or research institutions rather than China.
The US president’s tentative conclusion is likely to fuel criticism that his orders to take down the objects were an overreaction amid political pressure over the discovery of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that transited much of the country.
Continue reading...The special grand jury empaneled in the Georgia’s Fulton county worried that at least one of the 75 witnesses it heard from may have lied under oath, according to portions of their report released today.
They also determined “by a unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election,” the jurors wrote in the report’s introduction, which was released along with its conclusion and a brief chapter outlining the perjury concerns.
Continue reading...The justice department is looking into how classified documents came to be found in Joe Biden’s home and former office
The FBI searched the University of Delaware in recent weeks for classified documents as part of its investigation into the potential mishandling of sensitive government records by Joe Biden.
The search, first reported by CNN, was confirmed to the Associated Press by a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The person would not say whether anything was found.
Continue reading...Historic federal debt default could occur before July, cautions non-partisan agency
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Wednesday said the US treasury department will exhaust its ability to pay all its bills sometime between July and September, unless the current $31.4tn cap on borrowing is raised or suspended.
In a report issued alongside its annual budget outlook, the non-partisan CBO cautioned that a historic federal debt default could occur before July if revenue flowing into the treasury in April – when most Americans typically submit annual income tax filings – lags expectations.
Continue reading...Professor says his selection was dropped for describing Israel as an ‘apartheid state’ and accusing Jeffries of being ‘bought’ by Aipac
The Biden administration has withdrawn the nomination of a leading law professor to an international human rights post, for describing Israel as an “apartheid state” and accusing the top Democrat in Congress of being “bought” by pro-Israel groups.
James Cavallaro, of Wesleyan and Yale universities, said he was told by the US state department on Tuesday it had dropped his selection to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) “due to my statements denouncing apartheid in Israel/Palestine”.
Continue reading...Sensors and electronics pulled from waters off South Carolina, says military, after White House says Beijing’s surveillance program dates back years
The US military has recovered “significant debris” from a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon shot down this month, the Pentagon has said, after the White House claimed China had been operating a high-altitude balloon program spying on the US and its allies for many years.
The US Northern Command said in a statement: “Crews have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large sections of the structure.”
Continue reading...US will have its experts try to understand unknown objects, including broader policy implications, says John Kirby
“I told you so”.
That’s more or less what Republican senator Marco Rubio has to say about the three downings of unidentified objects over North American skies over the weekend:
Continue reading...