Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy and top aides to US President Joe Biden were yesterday to make their case to US senators about why a fresh infusion of military assistance is needed to help Ukraine repel Russian invaders.
The White House says the US would spend all it has available for Ukraine by the end of the year, a dire prediction that comes as Kyiv has struggled to make major advances in its counteroffensive against Russia.
Biden’s administration in October asked the US Congress for nearly US$106 billion to fund ambitious plans for Ukraine, Israel and US border security, but Republicans who control the US House of Representatives with a slim majority rejected the package.
Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / handout via Reuters
US Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, in a letter to US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and other congressional leaders, said that cutting off funding and a flow of weapons would “kneecap Ukraine on the battlefield” and increase the likelihood of Russian victories.
“I want to be clear: Without congressional action, by the end of the year, we will run out of resources to procure more weapons and equipment for Ukraine and to provide equipment from U.S. military stocks,” Young wrote in the letter released by the White House. “There is no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment. We are out of money — and nearly out of time.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a close Biden ally, announced on Monday night that the administration has invited Zelenskiy to address senators via secure video as part of a classified briefing “so we can hear directly from him precisely what’s at stake in this vote.”
In addition, a variety of top Biden officials, including US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, were expected to brief the senators.
Schumer also started the process of advancing a Ukraine-Israel emergency aid bill on the Senate floor.
“America’s national security is on the line around the world” with the fate of Ukraine aid hanging in the balance, Schumer said in a Senate speech. “Autocrats, dictators waging war against democracy, against our values, against our way of life. That’s why passing this supplemental is so important. It could determine the trajectory of democracy for years to come.”
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’