Tag: Volodymyr Zelenskyy

…meanwhile…

FRIDAY 3/17/23

(U.S. European Command has released de-classified video footage of a Russian Su-27 “conducting an unsafe/unprofessional intercept of a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 in international airspace over the Black Sea…” Russian aircraft spilled fuel on the MQ-9 drone before an Su-27 caught its propeller and forced European Command to down it. See the released footage here:https://www.eucom.mil/article/42318/media-advisory-camera-footage-release-from-us-air-force-mq-9-interaction-with-russian-su-2)

Slovakia Joins Poland – Slovakia becomes the second NATO country to provide warplanes to Ukraine for its defense against Russia’s invasion. It will send 13 MiG-29 jets to Ukraine. Earlier this week, Poland announced it will send four of the Soviet-era warplanes to the country. According to The Kyiv Independent, Ukrainian Prime Minister Eduard Heger said the jets will be used to protect the country’s skies and “not to carry out attacks against Russian military.”

Meanwhile: Beijing has announced Chinese leader Xi Jingping meets with Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week (per NPR).

•••

Truth Social Money Laundering Probe – Top executives of Truth Social became concerned last spring about “opaque entities in two emergency loans” to Donald J. Trump’s struggling social media site, The Guardian reports, citing “documents, emails and sources familiar with the matter.” The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York is investigating yet another potential crime in connection with the former president, in a scoop by The Guardian earlier this week. 

The two “emergency loans” include $6 million from the ES Family Trust in February 2022 (the month Russia invaded Ukraine), the trustee of which turns out to be a director of Paxum Bank, a part-owner of which is a relative of a Putin ally. The first of the two loans came in December 2021 from Paxum Bank, which is registered in Dominica.

Trump, Meanwhile, Defends Russia: In a video he released Thursday, Trump said, “the greatest threat to Western civilization today is not Russia,” per another UK-based newspaper, the Daily Mail, “it’s probably more than anything else ourselves and some of the horrible, USA-hating people.”

•••

Other Banks Save First Republic – Eleven banks led by JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo & Co. have deposited $30 billion into First Republic to save the San Francisco bank. The bailout includes $2.5 billion each from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, and The Wall Street Journal reports that First Republic executives sold $11.8 million in stock in the two months leading up to the bank’s crash, at an average price of nearly $130 per share.

Executive Chairman James Herbert II was among the bank’s executives who sold shares before First Republic stock fell to $34.27 per share and credit-rating agency S&P Global downgraded the bank four notches to “junk” status. WSJ notes that insider stock sales at banks are exempt from normal disclosure rules.

•••

We welcome your civil comments. Become a Citizen Pundit with an email to editors@thehustings.news on any recent issues, and note whether you lean left or right in the subject line.

--TL

_____________________________________________

THURSDAY 3/16/23

Ukraine to Get Warplanes – Poland will provide Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, President Andrzej Duda said at a news conference Thursday (per The Washington Post). Poland is the first NATO nation to provide fighter jets, long requested by Ukraine after Russia’s invasion more than a year ago.

•••

TikTok ... Time Out? – The Biden administration demands that Chinese-owned TikTok be sold to avoid a potential ban in the United States, according to NPR’s Morning Edition. It is not clear whether federal officials have set a deadline for such a sale, the report says. 

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) has been examining for two years whether U.S. data collected by TikTok are properly safeguarded from employees of the social media site’s Beijing owner, ByteDance. TikTok has commited $1.5 billion to its “Project Texas,” in which U.S.-based Oracle is to build a firewall to ensure security for users in the U.S. 

The Trump administration had attempted to put TikTok out of business, NPR notes, but efforts were halted by federal courts.

•••

Banking “Remains Sound” – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will tell the Senate Finance Committee Thursday the U.S. banking system “remains sound” and promote the government’s “decisive and forceful actions” to shore up confidence, Axios reports. 

Meanwhile: Credit Suisse will borrow up to $54 billion from Switzerland’s central bank. Shares in Credit Suisse momentarily plunged 25% Wednesday after Saudi National Bank indicated to other European banks it would no longer support the Swiss bank.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Investing in Ukraine

UPDATE -- The House can go home now. That is, those who served as proxy for colleagues who weren't present for the House of Representative's 225-201 vote approving the $1.7-trillion omnibus spending bill, (The Washington Post) which now proceeds to the White House for President Biden's signature. The bill consists of $858 billion in defense spending and $773 billion in domestic spending.

Senate Passes Long-Term Spending Bill – The Senate passed the $1.7-trillion omnibus spending bill, 68-29, to fund the federal government through September 2023 and avert a shutdown deadline of midnight Friday. The bill includes $45 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine, which is $8 billion higher than President Biden’s request. 

The bill also reforms the Electoral Count Act of 1887 to prevent another January 6 by making the counting of Electoral College votes ceremonial. 

No Charity Case -- Three-hundred days after Vladimir Putin’s Russia invaded his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a joint session of U.S. Congress Wednesday evening that “Against all odds, Ukraine didn’t fall. …

“Ukraine is alive and kicking. … We defeated Russia in the battle for minds of the world. We have no fear, nor should anyone in the world have it. Ukrainians gained this victory, and it gives us courage which inspires the entire world.

“Americans gained this victory, and that’s why you have succeeded in uniting the global community to protect freedom and international law. Europeans gained this victory, and that’s why Europe is now stronger and more independent than ever. The Russian tyranny has lost control over us. And it will never influence our minds again.”

“Next year,” Zelenskyy said, “will be a turning point.” This, in spite of the Russian army using a cold winter as a weapon against the people of Ukraine and Putin showing no sign of giving up even as a reported estimate of 100,000 of his troops have been killed or have deserted. 

“Your money is not charity,” Zelenskyy said. “It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”

The Biden administration announced Wednesday it is sending the advanced MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system to Ukraine as part of a $1.8-billion package announced just ahead of Zelenskyy’s arrival in Washington, D.C., where he met with Biden and other officials ahead of his address to Congress.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Bipartisan Support, Except for MAGA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plea for continued financial and military aid for his country’s defense from Russia was met with complete bipartisan support on Capitol Hill – almost. Then there are the MAGA Republicans, whose blatant backing of Vladmir Putin underscores their leader Donald J. Trump’s allegiance to the Russian dictator. 

Retiring Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) called out two MAGA Republicans on Twitter: “I couldn’t imagine looking at myself in the mirror if I was @mattgaetz or @laurenboebert. Smugly sat on their hands while history was made and a real hero addressed us. Imagine caring more about performance art than real human issues.”

Conversely, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) tweeted, “No more blank checks to Ukraine,” echoing would-be future House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who repeated his opposition to “blank checks” after calling Zelenskyy’s address, “Good speech.” (Washington Examiner.)

New York’s Daily News reports that Twitter deleted a tweet by Donald Trump Jr. with a faked picture of a naked Hunter Biden and calling Zelenskyy a “welfare queen.” The irony of Donald Trump Sr. withholding aid to Ukraine three years ago after a “perfect phone call” from which Zelenskyy declined to “investigate” Hunter Biden apparently was lost on Jr. 

But in the Senate, Republican support appeared more solid, far-less MAGA, with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell backing the $45-billion package for Ukraine included in the omnibus budget passed Thursday. 

And Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) tweeted: “Gr8 to be present for historic Zelenskyy speech Americans & Ukrainians partners for democracy Zelenskyy made that very clear.”

Comment in this column or on the left, or email editors@thehustings.news.

_____

At Least Three Shades of Red

Sunak is Britain’s Next PM – Rishi Sunak (above) is Britain’s prime minister after his last Conservative Party rival, Penny Mordaunt, dropped out of the race just before Monday nomination deadline, The Guardian reports. Scandal-plagued former PM Boris Johnson, for whom Sunak served as chancellor of the exchequer for two years, dropped out Sunday evening. Sunak was expected to take over for Liz Truss by Tuesday, giving her a total of 50 days as PM. 

Note: Truss was on her way out pretty much from the time she took over for Johnson in August. Plagued with a higher inflation rate in the UK than in the US, in part blamed on Brexit administered by Johnson, she announced a huge tax cut evoking President Reagan’s “trickle-down” economics, which triggered a negative reaction by financial markets. That led to her embarrassing reversal of the economic plan. 

Sunak, 42, the youngest British PM in nearly 200 years, is to be the third Conservative PM since Johnson won in 2019.

•••

McConnell v. McCarthy on Ukraine Aid – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has rebuked House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for his warning that a GOP majority in the lower chamber will not “write a blank check” for Ukraine, per Newsweek. It’s the latest sign of a continued split between Senate and House Republicans over loyalty to Donald J. Trump and his relationship to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

“Russia continues escalating attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure,” according to McConnell’s statement. “The lessons to us are clear. The Biden administration and Ukraine’s friends across the globe must be quicker and more proactive to get the aid they need.”

Last Tuesday, McCarthy told Punchbowl News that if the GOP retakes the House after November 8th’s midterms, his caucus will balk at further military aid to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. Last May, 57 House Republicans led by uber-Trumpers Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia, and Matt Gaetz, of Florida, voted against a $40-billion aid package for Ukraine.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), responding to a question at a Harvard Kennedy School event last Tuesday, said “I don’t know that I can say I was surprised, but I think it’s really disgraceful that today Minority Leader McCarthy suggested that if Republicans get the majority back that we will not continue to provide support for the Ukrainians.”

Dirty Bomb: After Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu accused Ukraine of preparing a “dirty” nuclear bomb, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded in his weekly Sunday evening address that only Russia was capable of using nuclear weapons in Europe, reports Voice of America. 

•••

Discuss these issues in the right or left column Comment box or email editors@thehustings.news.

_____