As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was making ready to address Congress, Russia warned that expanding army aid to the beleaguered state would only worsen the 10-thirty day period conflict. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters at an earlier push briefing in Moscow that the enlargement of Western weapon provides to Ukraine “sales opportunities to an aggravation of the conflict and, in point, does not bode nicely for Ukraine.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin, centre, speaks as Russian Protection Minister Sergei Shoigu, still left, and Chief of the Basic Personnel Gen. Valery Gerasimov go to a assembly with senior military services officers in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. 

(Sergey Fadeichev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo by means of AP)

Questioned no matter whether Zelenskyy’s take a look at to Washington would potentially guide to probable peace talks with Russia, Peskov mentioned: “I never imagine so.” 

His feedback were the 1st official Russian reaction to news that Zelenskyy was heading to Washington – the president’s initially acknowledged international journey due to the fact Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion activated a war that has killed hundreds and laid waste to cities and cities throughout Ukraine.

ZELENSKYY Pay a visit to IS A Concept TO PUTIN THAT US WILL Back again UKRAINE FOR ‘AS Extended AS IT TAKES’: WHITE Dwelling

Zelenskyy met with President Joe Biden in Washington Wednesday, the place U.S. officers declared a big new navy aid offer for Kyiv. He later tackled Congress, exactly where he thanked U.S. leaders and “everyday Individuals” for their assistance in fighting off the invaders and pressed for further aid.

Biden reported the U.S. and Ukraine would continue to venture a “united protection” as Russia wages a “brutal assault on Ukraine’s ideal to exist as a nation.” 

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a joint information meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden (not pictured) in the East Space of the White Residence in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2022. 

(REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

The enormous $1.8 billion package deal involves for the first time a Patriot missile battery and precision guided bombs for fighter jets, U.S. officers explained.

Talking during a meeting with his top rated military services brass, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed Moscow would get lessons learned in the conflict to “establish our armed forces and improve the functionality of our troops.” 

ZELENSKYY’S Information TO Us citizens: ‘I Definitely WANT TO Earn TOGETHER’

He reported specific emphasis would go to producing nuclear forces, which he described as “the most important ensure of Russia’s sovereignty.”

Putin also mentioned the Russian military’s new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile will enter assistance soon. The Sarmat is meant to replace aging Soviet-designed ballistic missiles and kind the main of Russia’s nuclear forces. 

A regional resident walks upcoming to a home wrecked in a Russian shelling in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. 

(AP Image/Andriy Andriyenko)

In the meantime, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported the beefed-up Russian armed forces will include 695,000 volunteer contract troopers, 521,000 of whom should really be recruited by the conclude of 2023. The Russian armed service had about 400,000 contract troopers as part of its 1-million-member armed service ahead of the fighting in Ukraine started.

Click Here TO GET THE FOX News Application

He also said Russia would variety new units in the country’s west in look at of ambitions by Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

The Involved Push contributed to this report. 

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Electronic breaking reporter masking criminal offense, political issues, and significantly far more. 

Source website link

The post Russia warns US military aid to Ukraine will escalate conflict as Zelenskyy addresses Congress appeared first on Ukraine Intelligence.

U.S. authorities on Wednesday said they have charged Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, the former chief technology officer of FTX Trading Ltd, for their roles in the alleged fraud that contributed to FTX’s collapse.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a video statement that both Wang and Ellison have pleaded guilty to the charges and have agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a separate statement said it has also charged Ellison and Wang for their roles in a multi-year scheme to defraud equity investors of FTX.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy faced a critical audience when he addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday: House Republicans who could hold up billions of dollars in war aid starting next month.

President Joe Biden’s administration has sent almost $50 billion in foreign assistance to Ukraine since Russia began its invasion of its neighbor in February, including humanitarian, financial and military support. Congress, currently controlled by Biden’s Democrats, is expected to approve $44.9 billion more this week in a bill funding the federal government.

It remains to be seen whether congressional support for Ukraine will change after Republicans take control of the House of Representatives next month. Biden’s fellow Democrats retained control of the Senate in the November midterm elections.

Zelenskiy stressed as he began his speech that he was addressing both Democrats and Republicans.

He told a House chamber jammed with hundreds of lawmakers that Ukraine’s fight was for the greater good, and he thanked all Americans for their assistance so far.

“Your money is not charity. It is an investment in the global security and democracy,” Zelenskiy said.

Nonetheless, the funding stream could slow starting on Jan. 3, when Republicans take a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Some hardline members of the Republican caucus have called for an end to the aid that has helped Ukraine fight Russian forces, instead calling for an audit to trace how the money previously allocated has been spent.

All 57 House votes against a bill providing more than $40 billion for Ukraine in May came from Republicans.

“No more blank checks to Ukraine,” Republican Representative Andy Biggs wrote on Twitter hours before Zelenskiy’s visit to Washington. Biggs, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, has emerged as the main challenger to House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy in the House speakership election, slated for Jan. 3.

A few of the most hardline Republicans – including representatives Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz – remained seated during the standing ovations, sitting and staring at their phones as Zelenskiy spoke.

Both told reporters after the speech that they would not support more aid for Kyiv. Gaetz said nothing had changed his opposition to Ukraine aid and, when asked if there was anything compelling in the speech, said, “I loved the fashion choices.”

But many Republicans said assistance to Ukraine must continue, although with more oversight.

“The majority of both parties in the House and Senate support this effort. But they’re not going to if we don’t have accountability and transparency,” Representative Michael McCaul, the Republican in line to chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee in January, told reporters.

The early weeks of 2023 could feature a leadership battle in the House, during which time legislating would likely grind to a halt. And even when the Republican-led House agrees on its leader, deep divisions between it, Biden and the Democratic-led Senate, could make it hard for lawmakers to agree on new initiatives.

While they are unlikely to stop aid altogether, Republicans could slow or pare back the assistance, or use it as leverage to win concessions from Democrats on Republican priorities like clamping down on immigration across the southern border with Mexico.

McCarthy said in October that Ukraine would no longer receive a “blank check” from the United States.

Funding for Ukraine puts historic priorities of the Republican party at odds: a strong defense and opposition to Russia versus a desire to rein in government spending. Adding to the complexity is the allegiance of many in the party to former President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies.

Some of his allies in Congress have viewed Ukraine’s government as corrupt since Trump’s first impeachment trial.

House Democrats voted to impeach Trump in 2019 on charges he held up military aid for Ukraine to put pressure on Zelenskiy to investigate one of Biden’s sons. The issue could loom large again as Trump seeks the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

Ukraine’s military said Russia had pulled some troops from towns on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River from Kherson city, the first official Ukrainian report of a Russian withdrawal on what is now the main front line in the south..

* Spain has stepped up security at public and diplomatic buildings after a spate of letter bombs, including one sent to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and another to the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, where an official suffered minor injuries.

* Air raid alerts were issued across all of Ukraine following warnings by Ukrainian officials that Russia was preparing a new wave of missile and drone strikes. “An overall air raid alert is in place in Ukraine. Go to shelters,” country’s border service wrote on Telegram messaging app.

* Ukraine’s military said it had found fragments of Russian-fired nuclear-capable missiles with dud warheads in west Ukraine, and that their apparent purpose was to distract air defences.

* The recently liberated Ukrainian city of Kherson has lost its power supply after heavy shelling by Russian forces, the regional governor said.

* European Union governments tentatively agreed on a $60 a barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil, with an adjustment mechanism to keep the cap at 5% below the market price, an EU diplomat said.

* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on that big problems had accumulated in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), accusing the West of spurning the chance to make it a real bridge with Russia after the Cold War.

* Lavrov said that discussions with Washington about potential prisoner exchanges were being conducted by the two countries’ intelligence services, and that he hoped they would be successful.

* The European Union needs patience as it sanctions Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, as most measures will only have an impact in the medium and long term, Lithuania’s prime minister said in an interview at  the  Reuters NEXT conference.

* Switzerland has frozen financial assets worth 7.5 billion Swiss francs ($7.94 billion) as of Nov. 25 under sanctions against Russians to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said.

* Russia said the German parliament’s move to recognise the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine as a Soviet-imposed genocide was an anti-Russian provocation and an attempt by Germany to whitewash its Nazi past.

* Ukraine sacked a top engineer at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, accusing him of collaborating with Russian forces, and urged other Ukrainian staff at the plant to remain loyal to Kyiv.

* Russia must withdraw its heavy weapons and military personnel from the Zaporizhzhia plant if the U.N. atomic watchdog’s efforts to create a protection zone are to succeed, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

* In a grim sign of the energy crisis caused by Russian attacks on Ukraine’s electricity grid, nine people have been killed in fires over the past 24 hours as Ukrainians resorted to emergency generators, candles and gas cylinders in violation of safety rules to try to heat their homes after power outages.

* “Remember one thing – the Russians are afraid. And they are very cold and no one will help them, because they do not have popular support,” – Andriy Yermak, chief of Ukrainian presidential staff.

Related Galleries:

Delivering a historic address to Congress entirely in English, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine spoke stirringly Wednesday night of his country’s fortitude, holding forth the besieged city of Bakhmut as a kind of Rock of Ages stronghold against occupiers. But when it came to moving metaphors of light fighting against the dark, Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, did not mention that it was the fourth night of Hanukkah, instead grabbing for lower-hanging seasonal fruit.

“We will celebrate Christmas,” Zelenskyy said of Ukraine. It “may be candle-lit,” he added, “not because it’s more romantic, but because there will be no electricity — millions won’t have heating or no running water.”

He was resolute that the celebration would happen regardless of Russian airstrikes. “Even if there is no electricity, the light of our faith in ourselves will not be put out.” 

Meanwhile on Twitter, many Jews posted pictures of their Hanukkah menorahs and said they were lighting them in honor of Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian president, who doesn’t often discuss his Jewish background, has been frequently called a “modern-day Maccabee.” But given his primarily Christian audience, it’s no surprise that he did not delve into Jewish antiquity. Perhaps, too, given he grew up in the Soviet Union when robust Jewish education was not always available, he is not fluent in the history himself.

The Maccabees did not go unmentioned in Washington on Wednesday however. At a joint news conference with Zelenskyy before the speech, President Joe Biden pointed out that the visit came at “a time when Jewish people around the world, President Zelenskyy and many families among them, honor the timeless miracle of a small band of warriors fighting for the values and their freedom against a much larger foe and how they endured and how they overcame.

Biden, who hosted a White House Hanukkah party Monday, also noted how “the flame of faith with only enough oil for one day burned brightly for eight days. The story of survival and resilience that reminds us on the coldest day of the year, that light will always prevail over darkness.”

The parallels between the two men’s metaphors were striking. 

But comparisons between the Maccabees and Ukraine are somewhat strained. Zelenskyy, while resisting invaders and beating the odds, proved himself to be quite an assimilated Jew in his invocation of Christmas. The  Maccabees, with guerilla warfare and makeshift weapons, were on their own. There was no great power they appealed to (or spoke the language of) to win out against the Seleucids.

Yet it’s the courage of Zelenskyy — who, mercifully, seems not quite as violently zealous as Judah Maccabee — that shines through. Fighting for his people, he argued that the world we live in is interconnected, that his fight is not his alone. If this doesn’t reflect the stakes of the Hanukkah story, it may well be a sort of update that better tracks with our values and our reality now.

Maybe that’s what people mean when they call him a “modern-day Maccabee.” 

The post Zelenskyy, ‘modern-day Maccabee,’ invokes candle-lit Christmas in speech to Congress appeared first on The Forward.

Every September 1, the Internet in the Philippines starts to teem with memes of a septuagenarian, ethnically-Chinese man. Posts typically feature variations of him peeking into frame. His appearance unofficially marks the start of the country’s lengthy holiday season, colloquially known as the “Ber months.”

The face peering out is that of Jose Mari Chan, a Philippine sugar business owner whose icon status has earned him the local moniker “Mr. Christmas.” Whereas Mariah Carey’s voice may ring in the winter spirit in America, it’s Chan’s carols that have, over the past few decades, become ubiquitous throughout the final four months of every year in malls, restaurants, karaoke bars, and radio broadcasts across the archipelagic Southeast Asian nation of 110 million people.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Read More: The Surprising Origins of 5 Christmas Traditions

Chan, who considers himself “first a businessman, and second a singer-songwriter,” has held a lifelong love for music. Even though he had to prioritize the sugar business he inherited, he simultaneously pursued a career as an artist, releasing his first album in 1969 when he was in his early twenties. Throughout the ’70s, Chan, who is recognizable for his warm tenor, became one of the country’s most renowned balladeers and composers, producing more albums, many TV and movie soundtracks, and several popular commercial jingles.

In 1975, after the Philippines’ notoriously corrupt authoritarian leader Ferdinand Marcos Sr. “nationalized the sugar industry in all but name,” according to the New York Times, which triggered a sugar crisis in the country, Chan and his family moved to New York to pursue the family business in America. When Marcos Sr.’s dictatorship fell in 1986, they returned—and Chan, with new music, made a comeback on the airwaves.

But it wasn’t until 1990 that Chan would record the song for which he has ultimately become most famous. He wrote it as a duet, and originally, he says, he had wanted Lea Salonga—who at the early stages of her illustrious career was already an award-winning Filipino actress and singer—to perform it with him. When label contracts prevented them from working together, however, another singer was lined up. But then that replacement developed a hoarse voice before getting to the studio. In a pinch, his daughter Liza stepped in. “Christmas in Our Hearts” went on to become a sensation: the father-daughter duo have since performed it around the world, and the album it appeared on (with the same name as the single) is among the country’s all-time bestsellers. Just this year, Grammy-winning American pop a cappella group Pentatonix covered the song, featuring Salonga, on their latest holiday album, a collaboration that Chan says brings the hit “full circle” to its origin story.

Courtesy Jose Mari Chan/Jojo Guingona

Today, Chan, now 77, takes his massive seasonal popularity in stride. He’s aware of the memes, and when people of all ages ask for selfies with him on the street, he’s happy to oblige. “I don’t have the heart to say no,” he tells TIME. “I don’t want to appear arrogant.”

One thing Chan is not so comfortable with is the nickname he’s been given: “Mr. Christmas.” As a devout Catholic—which is not unusual in the Philippines, where more than 80% of the population shares the same faith—he says he’d prefer for the holiday spotlight to remain focused on God. “This season may we never forget the love we have for Jesus” is even a refrain of his most popular song. If you must, Chan insists, you can instead refer to him as the “Little Drummer Boy.” (His friends just call him Joe Mari.)

Chan credits divine intervention for his musical success—he’s received multiple lifetime achievement industry awards—particularly when it comes to “Christmas in Our Hearts.” He recalls a producer lamenting at the time of recording that it “sounded too much like a Christian song” to become a mainstream chart-topper. But that didn’t concern Chan; he tells TIME he has always believed “the hand of the Holy Spirit was on the song from the very start.” In fact, it was no coincidence, he suggests, that the arranger, Homer Flores, has the same initials that stand for the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph).

Still, as religious as he is, Chan is no stranger himself to the increasing commercialization of Christmas, which has been taking place in the Philippines just like everywhere else in the world. Chan is a brand ambassador for Shopee, the regional giant in online retail, as well as for IKEA, among other companies. After all, he’s still a businessman first, he reminds. And he doesn’t mind encouraging consumer spending “if it helps bring in the Christmas spirit.”

But unlike with his advertising work, or his sugar business or real estate investments, Chan claims he’s not primarily interested in profit for his holiday tunes. He would love for his lyrics to spread far and wide, even if, he suggests, in many years, people eventually forget the man who wrote them. “With my Christmas songs,” he says, “I’m in it for the goodwill, and for the joy that people have in their hearts when they sing.”

(WASHINGTON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that “against all odds” Ukraine still stands, as he paid a defiant wartime visit to Washington to thank U.S. leaders and “ordinary Americans” for their support in fighting off Russia’s invasion and pledged there would be “no compromises” in trying to bring an end to the war. President Joe Biden and Congress responded with billions in new assistance and a pledge to help Ukraine pursue a “just peace.”

Zelenskyy received a thunderous ovation from legislators during an address at the U.S. Capitol, declaring that Ukraine “will never surrender” and warning that the stakes of the conflict were greater than just the fate of his nation — that democracy worldwide is being tested.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

“This battle cannot be ignored, hoping that the ocean or something else will provide protection,” he said, speaking in English for what he had billed as a “speech to Americans.”

Read More: 2022 Person of the Year: Volodymyr Zelensky

Earlier Wednesday, Biden welcomed Zelenskyy to the Oval Office, saying the U.S. and Ukraine would continue to project a “united defense” as Russia wages a “brutal assault on Ukraine’s right to exist as a nation.” Zelenskyy, on his first known trip outside his country since Russia invaded in February, said he wanted to visit earlier and his visit now showed the “situation is under control, because of your support.”

Pressed on how Ukraine would try to bring an end to the conflict, Zelenskyy rejected Biden’s framing of a “just peace,” saying, “For me as a president, ‘just peace’ is no compromises.” He said the war would end once Ukraine’s sovereignty, freedom and territorial integrity were restored, as well as the “payback for all the damages inflicted by Russian aggression.”

“There can’t be any ‘just peace’ in the war that was imposed on us,” he added.

The highly sensitive trip was taking place after 10 months of a brutal war that has seen tens of thousands of casualties on both sides and devastation for Ukrainian civilians. Zelenskyy’s visit was meant to reinvigorate support for his country in the U.S. and around the world, amid concerns that allies are growing weary of the costly war and its disruption to global food and energy supplies.

Just before his arrival, the U.S. announced a $1.8 billion military aid package for Ukraine, including for the first time Patriot surface-to-air missiles, and Congress planned to vote on a spending package that includes about $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine.

Russia, Biden said, is “trying to use winter as a weapon, but Ukrainian people continue to inspire the world.” Later, in a joint news conference, he said Russian President Vladimir Putin has “no intention of stopping this cruel war.”

The two leaders appeared to share a warm rapport, laughing at each others’ comments and patting each other on the back throughout the visit, though Zelenskyy made clear he will continue to press Biden and other Western leaders for ever more support.

He said that after the Patriot system was up and running, “we will send another signal to President Biden that we would like to get more Patriots.”

“We are in the war,” Zelenskyy added with a smile, as Biden chuckled at the direct request. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

Biden said it is “important for the American people, and for the world, to hear directly from you, Mr. President, about Ukraine’s fight, and the need to continue to stand together through 2023.”

Zelenskyy headed abroad after making a daring and dangerous trip Tuesday to what he called the hottest spot on the 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) front line of the war, the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s contested Donetsk province. He praised Ukrainian troops for their “courage, resilience and strength” as artillery boomed in the background.

Poland’s private broadcaster, TVN24, said Zelenskyy crossed into Poland early Wednesday on his way to Washington. The station showed footage of what appeared to be Zelenskyy arriving at a train station and being escorted to a motorcade of American SUVs. TVN24 said the video, partially blurred for security reasons, was shot in Przemysl, a Polish border town that has been the arrival point for many refugees fleeing the war.

Officials, citing security concerns, were cagey about Zelenskyy’s travel plans, but a U.S. official confirmed that Zelenskyy arrived on a U.S. Air Force jet that landed at Joint Base Andrews, just outside the capital, from the Polish city of Rzeszow.

Biden told Zelenskyy, who wore a combat-green sweatshirt and boots during their Oval Office meeting, that ”it’s an honor to be by your side.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in her invitation to Zelenskyy to speak to lawmakers, said “the fight for Ukraine is the fight for democracy itself” and that they were looking forward to “hearing your inspiring message of unity, resilience and determination.”

U.S. and Ukrainian officials have made clear they do not envision an imminent resolution to the war and are preparing for fighting to continue for some time. The latest infusion of U.S. money would be the biggest yet — and exceed Biden’s $37 billion request.

Biden has repeated that while the U.S. will arm and train Ukraine, American forces will not be directly engaged in the war.

Biden and Zelenskyy first discussed the idea of a visit during a telephone call on Dec. 11, with a formal invitation following three days later, according to a senior U.S. administration official. Zelenskyy accepted the invitation on Friday and it was confirmed on Sunday, when the White House began coordinating with Pelosi to arrange the congressional address.

The White House consulted with Zelenskyy on security, including the risk of Russian action while he was briefly out of the country, said the official, who declined to detail the measures taken to safeguard the Ukrainian leader. The official briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the visit.

The latest U.S. military aid package will include not only a Patriot missile battery but precision guided bombs for fighter jets, U.S. officials said. It represents an expansion in the kinds of advanced weaponry intended to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses against what has been an increasing barrage of Russian missiles.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has said the delivery of the advanced surface-to-air missile system would be considered a provocative step and that the system and any crews accompanying it would be a legitimate target for Moscow’s military.

“It’s a defensive system,” Biden said of sending the missile system. “It’s not escalatory — it’s defensive.”

It was unclear when the Patriot battery would arrive on the front lines in Ukraine, given that U.S. troops will have to train Ukrainian forces. The training, expected to be done in Germany, could take several months, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

The visit comes at an important moment, with the White House bracing for greater resistance when Republicans take control of the House in January and give more scrutiny to aid for Ukraine. GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of California has said his party will not write a “blank check” for Ukraine.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer opened the chamber’s session by saying that passage of the aid package and confirmation of the new U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne M. Tracy, would send a strong signal that Americans stand “unequivocally” with Ukraine. Tracy was confirmed later on a 93-2 vote.

Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Zelenskyy arrives not only as a president but an “ambassador to freedom itself.”

The Senate’s top Republican, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, said “the most basic reasons for continuing to help Ukraine degrade and defeat the Russian invaders are cold, hard, practical American interests.” He said “defeating Russia’s aggression will help prevent further security crises in Europe.”

Russia’s invasion, which began Feb. 24, has lost momentum. The illegally annexed provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia remain fiercely contested.

With the fighting in the east at a stalemate, Moscow has used missiles and drones to attack Ukraine’s power equipment, hoping to leave people without electricity as freezing weather sets in.

In a video released by his office from the Bakhmut visit, Zelenskyy was handed a signed Ukrainian flag and alluded to delivering it to U.S. leaders. “We are grateful for their support, but it is not enough,” he said. “It is a hint — it is not enough.”

Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta Center think tank, said Zelenskyy’s visit to the U.S. “should determine the course of the war — Zelenskyy for the first time dared to leave Ukraine and is counting on being able to maintain, and possibly even strengthen, U.S. military and economic assistance.”

Hanna Danylovych, 43, who lives in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and works as a scientist, welcomed the prospect of additional military supplies, saying “there is a great desire and dream to speed up the removal of Russian evil from our land.”

Putin on Wednesday told his country’s military leaders that Russia will achieve its stated goals in Ukraine and use the combat experience to strengthen its military. His defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said Russia’s military must be expanded from the current 1 million to 1.5 million during the fighting in Ukraine.

___

Castillo reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor, Tara Copp, Aamer Madhani, Chris Megerian and Seung Min Kim in Washington, Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, and Andrew Katell in New York contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON—During his White House press conference alongside the American President on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tried to crack a joke and failed, but inadvertently revealed how much he and Joe Biden were in lockstep about Russia.

After a reporter asked what would happen after new battery of cutting-edge U.S. Patriot air-defense missiles arrives in Ukraine, Zelensky, who had stood stony faced for most of the press conference, made a prediction. “What will happen?” Zelensky asked. “We will ask for more Patriots.”

Biden smiled, looked down and shook his head. “We are working on it,” he said. Zelensky, who made his name in Ukraine as a movie producer and comedian, put his hand out, apologized, and said “That is a laugh line.” Biden chuckled in a way that made clear his response hadn’t been part of the joke.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

The moment spoke to the easy rapport Biden and Zelensky had built earlier that day over two hours sitting face to face in the Oval Office, while at the same time, pointed at the central question of the moment about the U.S. support for Ukraine: how far will it go?

Zelensky’s star turn in Washington—which includes a White House meeting and a prime-time address to a joint session of Congress—comes just as Republicans are about to take back control of the House, and key Republican leaders, including the likely new Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, have promised to take a harder look at the money the U.S. is sending to prop up Ukraine’s hammered economy.

Read more: Zelensky Is TIME’s Person of the Year

The Ukrainian military has taken back large swaths of land Russian forces blitzed through in February, but major parts of Ukraine’s east and south remain in Russian hands, and Russia has escalated its missile assaults, destroying heating and water infrastructure across the country with coldest winter months about to set in.

It is with that backdrop that Biden has invited Zelensky onto the main stage, as a way to signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as America’s allies and House Republicans critical of the US role in the conflict, that Biden doesn’t see an expiration date on U.S. support for Ukraine. “The American people are with you every step of the way,” Biden told Zelensky at the press conference in the East Room of the White House.

“And we will stay as long as it takes.” he added.

In addition to the Patriot missiles, Biden announced an additional $1.85 billion in military equipment and security assistance. At the same time, Congress is expected to include $44.9 billion in emergency security and economic assistance for Ukraine in a massive $1.7 trillion spending package that has to pass in the coming days to prevent a government shutdown.

When the two leaders met earlier in the Oval Office, Zelensky presented Biden with a medal that had been awarded to an officer commanding a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) rocket launcher battery on the front lines. The Ukrainian officer, a captain, had told Zelensky to give the medal to Biden. “He said give it to the very brave President,” Zelensky said. Biden was visibly touched, and read the soldiers name, saying he would write to him. “Undeserved but much appreciated. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

During the press conference, another reporter noted that the U.S. was incrementally increasing its shipments of military equipment to Ukraine. The reporter asked Biden why he didn’t and doesn’t just “make a long story short” and give the Ukranians everything they need to retake their territory now. Biden pointed to Zelensky, and cracked, “His answer’s yes.” Zelensky smiled and said, “I agree.” Biden then said that the U.S. had been investing in Ukrainian military systems going back to before Russia started rolling tanks toward Kyiv. “We’ve given Ukraine what they needed when they needed it to defend themselves,” Biden said. “There’s an entire alliance, and the idea that we would give the kind of material that is fundamentally different than what is already going there, that would bring the prospect of breaking up NATO and breaking up the European Union and the rest of the world.” U.S. allies, Biden said, are “not looking to go to war with Russia and not looking for a third world war.”

In her attempts to subvert the election results in Arizona in which she was shown the door by the voters of that state, former news anchor and all-around Branch Trumpvidian Kari Lake called on Governor Elect and current Arizona Secretary of State Kattie Hobbs to recuse herself from certifying the results of the election. Her followers – all “experts” on law, science, medicine, religion, and just about any other subject you could imagine took to social media to suggest that Hobbs acted unconstitutionally by certifying her own election as Arizona Governor.

As usual, these “experts” turned out to be totally wrong. University of Colorado law Professor Doug Spencer said that such claims are “demonstrably false.” Professor Spencer pointed out that neither the US Constitution or Arizona’s own Constitution spell out how an election should be certified, and that incumbent secretaries in Arizona often certify their own reelections. Additionally, it is not unusual for elected officials to be in the position of certifying their own elections, not just in Arizona but throughout the country. For example, former VP Pence was the one who had to certify the 2020 election win or lose, which he did for President Biden despite the terrorist attack former guy’s followers carried out that day.

These armchair “experts” have spoken and only managed to make themselves look like gosh darn fools in the process. The real problem is that they convince other fools to buy into their bullshit. If Kari Lake was an actual, functional adult she’d wouldn’t be doing all this garbage but instead be a gracious loser like 99.9% of Democratic politicians are when they lose elections.

The post Kari Lake goes down the rabbit hole appeared first on Palmer Report.