President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday canceled plans to make a remote, last-ditch appeal to senators for billions more in aid for Ukraine. His aborted plea comes as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), usually a strong pro-Ukrainian voice, told his caucus to hold out against the $106 billion foreign aid package and vote no to send Democrats the message that they need to meet GOP border demands. A procedural vote is scheduled for today.
Republicans want to ramp up security along the US-Mexico border and make changes to asylum policy. Negotiations broke down on Friday over questions of border security spending. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) complained that GOP negotiators just want Democrats to “swallow their most difficult proposals” without offering compromises.
Zelensky had hoped to drive home the urgency of aid for Ukraine, but the prospects didn’t look good even before he pulled the plug. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said there was nothing Zelensky could have said that would have made him come around on Ukraine aid sans a border deal.
For Ukrainian troops, US support could mean life or death this winter, and ultimately victory or defeat. US aid is very nearly tapped out, and Ukraine has no other ally that can provide anywhere close to the required amount and quality of equipment.
President Trump unveiled “Project Freedom,” an initiative to escort ships and restore traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, on Sunday. By Tuesday evening, he had unceremoniously suspended it by Truth Social post, shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters how committed the administration was to it.
India’s Modi consolidates grip after historic state election win, Venezuela and Guyana are back in court over border dispute, Trump administration weighs a hands-on approach to AI
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended a meeting of the European Political Community in Armenia this weekend, a first by the leader of a non-European country. He was invited to discuss common interests in trade, energy, and security. In a speech that echoed his address to the World Economic Forum in Davos two months earlier, Carney called on middle powers, including Canada and European nations, to work together in the wake of disruption of the established world order — implicitly pointing to the United States. “It’s my strong personal view that the international order will be rebuilt,” he told the crowd in Yerevan, “but it will be rebuilt out of Europe.”
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s government fell after losing a no-confidence vote, putting Romania’s access to EU recovery funds – worth approximately $13 billion – at risk.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s government fell after losing a no-confidence vote, putting Romania’s access to EU recovery funds – worth approximately $13 billion – at risk. The country, which has the largest budget deficit in the EU, has to complete the bloc’s mandated economic reforms by August to unlock the funds. But with its country’s pro-EU government pushed out, those reforms are uncertain.