Updated October 2, 2023 at 4:20 am EDT|Published October 2, 2023 at 1:58 am EDT
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (center) attends a ceremony in Kiev on Sunday to honor the memory of Ukrainian soldiers. (Presidential Press Service/Handout/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to continue the fight against the Russian invasion “as long as necessary,” while some U.S. Republicans were unwilling to fund the ongoing war effort. There is no “expiration date” or “end date” other than victory, he said in a defiant Veterans Day speech.
During a trip to Kiev, the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, reiterated the Union’s unwavering commitment to Ukraine. “Maybe not everyone in the world sees it that way.” he told reporters on Monday“But for us Europeans it is an existential threat.” EU foreign ministers will meet later on Monday for an informal meeting in the Ukrainian capital, Borrell announced.
Here you will find the latest information about the war and its global impact.
President Biden sought to reassure Ukrainians and said he hoped Republicans would “keep their word.” After a funding bill that prevented a government shutdown in the United States over the weekend provided no further aid for Kiev.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) were among Republican leaders who signaled that more aid for Ukraine was on the way during television interviews. McCarthy, who linked that support to increased U.S. border control efforts, also faces a potential challenge to his leadership that could further complicate U.S. aid plans.
Ukraine’s foreign minister expressed confidence in U.S. lawmakers to support Kiev’s war effort. “We are now working with both sides of Congress to ensure that this does not happen again,” Dmytro Kuleba said on Monday, referring to the failure to provide aid to Kiev. Kuleba described Ukraine’s war effort as a global fight for a rules-based order: “What’s at stake in Ukraine is much bigger than just Ukraine. It’s about the stability and predictability of the world,” he said.
Borrell said he was calling a “historic” meeting of EU foreign ministers in Kiev on Monday in a sign of the bloc’s commitment to its “future member.” Over the weekend, he vowed to push European industries to continue producing the munitions Kiev needs. During a weekend visit to Ukraine, he said the current supply plan was “well on track.”
Another challenge to Western unity in Ukraine policy could come from Slovakia after Slovakia’s pro-Russian populist Robert Fico and his party won the country’s parliamentary elections over the weekend. If Fico’s Smer party leads a coalition government, as is likely, it could threaten Slovakia’s strong support for Ukraine, with which it shares a border.
One person was killed and six others were injured in the Kherson region as a result of Russian shellingsaid Governor Oleksandr Prokudin on Telegram on Monday morning. Two children were among the injured, he said. Residential buildings, a kindergarten, a church and a gas pipe were damaged.
The Ukrainian Air Force warned on Monday that Russian forces were using tactical missiles in frontline areas in southeastern Ukraine. Rocket attacks were repelled in the Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions early Monday, air force officials said on Telegram.
Russia is conducting tactical counterattacks in Robotyne, southeastern Ukraine, while Ukraine has been conducting an offensive in the region for months, according to the Institute for the Study of War. The situation was fluid and some trenches had “changed hands several times,” the Washington-based think tank said, citing geolocated footage.
The United States is the largest financial supporter of Kiev’s fight against Russia: Washington has pledged more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022, including more than $43 billion in military aid, Ruby Mellen and Artur Galocha report in a visual look at U.S. spending during of the war.
“These are numbers that are off the charts,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He compared the numbers to U.S. commitments to European countries at the end of World War II. Adjusted for inflation, the Marshall Plan amounted to about $150 billion over three years.