#threattoglobalsecurity

“Ukraine asked for nothing more than necessary to protect lives. When lives are lost, and partners are simply playing internal political games or disputes that limit our defense, it’s impossible to understand. It’s unacceptable.” ~ Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky 🇺🇦💙💛🇺🇦

#Repost @kyivindependent_official with @use.repost . . . President Volodymyr Zelensky called on allies to quickly transfer weapons to Ukraine, saying in his evening address on March 2 that their “political games and disputes” are limiting the country’s defense.

Zelensky made the appeal after Russia’s overnight drone strike against a multi-story building in Odesa which killed at least eight people, including a four-month-old boy and a two-year-old one. A three-year-old girl is among the eight injured residents of the house.

The delay in the supply of weapons to protect Ukrainians “leads to such losses”, the president noted, saying that “the world has enough air defense systems, systems which can protect against the Shahed drones and missiles.”

“Ukraine asked for nothing more than necessary to protect lives. When lives are lost, and partners are simply playing internal political games or disputes that limit our defense, it’s impossible to understand. It’s unacceptable,” Zelensky said.

Photo: Presidential Office

“Johnson has shown no signs of canceling Republicans’ vacation as he puts his own internal politics over the safety of the American people.” ~ White House spokesperson, Andrew Bates 🇺🇦💙💛🇺🇸

#Repost @kyivindependent_official with @use.repost . . . The White House sent a memo to House Republicans castigating their inaction on aid for Ukraine and assigned a packet of “vacation reading” containing the potential consequences of their unwillingness to bring the aid to a vote, Politico reported on Feb. 21, citing a memo obtained from White House spokesperson Andrew Bates.

The White House has continued to criticize House Republicans over their refusal to pass legislation providing aid for Ukraine, which escalated after U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson convened an early recess on Feb. 15 without bringing the aid, passed days before by the Senate, to a vote.

The episode was the latest in months of impasse in Congress over aid for Ukraine, which has effectively run dry in the meantime.

The bipartisan funding measure, passed by the Senate on Feb. 13 with 70 votes, includes $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, as well as additional funding for Israel and other U.S. allies.

“The damage House Republicans are actively causing to American national security mounts every day that they insist on continuing their two-week vacation,” Bates wrote in the memo.

Congress is set to reconvene on Feb. 28.

“Johnson has shown no signs of canceling Republicans’ vacation as he puts his own internal politics over the safety of the American people,” Bates said, adding that the inaction threatens the security of the U.S.’s allies, including the possibility of Russian advances on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Concerns about Russia gaining the initiative in the war have grown after Ukraine was forced to retreat from the city of Avdiivka on Feb. 17 after months of intense fighting.

Johnson has continued to emphasize that he believes domestic concerns about the southern border with Mexico should take precedence.

"No amount of memos from the White House can change the fact that House Republicans were clear from the very beginning: any national security supplemental should start at our own border," said Johnson's spokesperson, Taylor Haulsee, on Feb. 21.