Ukraine-Russia – live: Warning that funding delay will ‘kneecap’ Kyiv’s forces on frontline

The Biden administration on Monday sent Congress an urgent warning about the need to approve tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance to Ukraine, saying Kyiv’s war effort to defend itself from Russia’s invasion may grind to a halt without it.

In a letter to House and Senate leaders and released publicly, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young warned the US will run out of funding to send weapons and assistance to Ukraine by the end of the year, saying that would “kneecap” Ukraine on the battlefield.

She added that the US has already run out of money that it has used to prop up Ukraine‘s economy, and “if Ukraine‘s economy collapses, they will not be able to keep fighting, full stop.”“We are out of money — and nearly out of time,” she wrote.

Mr Biden has sought a nearly $106 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other needs, but it has faced a difficult reception on Capitol Hill, where there is growing skepticism about the magnitude of assistance for Ukraine and where even Republicans supportive of the funding are insisting on US-Mexico border policy changes to halt the flow of migrants as a condition for the assistance.

Western analysts have told The Independent that “a lot of Ukrianians will die” if US funding to Ukraine abruptly stops.

Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia and Asia programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, said there was “no way to sugarcoat how bad it would be if the House doesn’t pass aid to Ukraine”.

“If US security assistance stops,” he said, “a lot of Ukrainians will die and their ability to fight on will be severely compromised.”

It is unprecedented critism of the Ukrainian president since Russia’s invasion almost two years ago and comes as Kyiv’s counteroffensive against the forces of Vladimir Putin has . Mr Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxing champion turned mayor of Kyiv, told the Swiss media outlet 20 Minuten: “People [are beginning to] see who’s effective and who’s not. And there were and still are a lot of expectations. Zelensky is paying for mistakes he has made.”

“At some point we will no longer be any different from Russia, where everything depends on the whim of one man,” Mr Klitschko told German magazine Der Spiegel, in another interview.”

“Important defense agreements with our partners continue to be implemented. We have received both critical air defense missiles and new air defense systems. I thank our friends.

“Our efforts to boost domestic defense production are bearing fruit. We have reached the level of six “Bohdana” artillery systems per month for the first time. And we can already see ways to further increase capacity.

“Our grain corridor keeps working and has reached the 7 million ton mark.

“I also received intelligence data and frontline briefings on defensive operations in the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions, as well as active operations in the south.

“Kherson. Following another barbaric Russian strike, emergency services and regional and city military administrations are assisting victims and providing aid. Our defense forces are realizing a plan to deprive the enemy of the possibility and willingness to terrorize the city.”

White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan has warned that a vote against supplemental funding for Ukraine will only hurt Ukraine and help Russia.

He urged congress to “act now” on Ukraine.

At a press conference on Monday he said: “I believe that any member of congress who does not support funding for Ukraine is voting for an outcome that will make it easier for Putin to prevail.

“A vote against supporting Ukraine is a vote to imorove Putin’s position. That is an inescapable reality.

“It will hurt Ukraine and help Russia. It will hurt democracy and help dictators.”

As the White House runs out of money to support Ukraine, Poland warns Russia could attack the West in less than 36 months.

New fears of Russian escalation across Europe have emerged after a German think tank said Western countries must prepare for a direct attack from Russia.

“Once intensive fighting will have ended in Ukraine, the regime in Moscow may need as little as six to ten years to reconstitute its armed forces.

“Within that timeframe, Germany and Nato must enable their armed forces to deter and, if necessary, fight against Russia. Only then will they be in a position to reduce the risk of another war breaking out in Europe.”

But, the head of Poland’s national security agency estimated that Russia could attack Nato countries within three years in an interview with Nasz Dziennik.

The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said it had launched a probe into a video purporting to show the incident, saying it took place near an observation post outside Stepove village in Donetsk.

The video shows a Ukrainian soldier crawling out of a foxhole as six Russian soldiers wait for him outside. He is seen holding his hands up and then lying on the ground. Within seconds, another Ukrainian soldier stumbles out of the dugout and lies down. The Russian soldiers then fire upon the two unarmed Ukrainians.

“The video shows a group of people in Russian uniforms shooting, at point-blank range, two unarmed servicemen in the uniform of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who were surrendering,” the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said.

“The killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and is classified as a serious international crime,” it said.

Mr Stoltenberg admitted Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive this summer had failed to make significant territorial gains, but described Russia’s failure to capture any more major cities as a “strategic defeat” for Vladimir Putin’s invading forces.

“Wars develop in phases. We have to support Ukraine in both good and bad times. We should also be prepared for bad news,” the Nato chief said in an interview with German broadcaster ARD.

Mr Stoltenberg said Ukraine was fighting a war unlike any in history, and hailed the country’s efforts on the battlefield that have frustrated Russia’s advance. “These are big victories even though they have not been able to move the frontline,” he said.

The Nato chief warned that a victory for Putin would not only be a tragedy for Ukraine but also present a danger for the alliance. “The more we support Ukraine, the faster the war will end,” he said.

In a letter to European Council President, Charles Michel, who will chair the summit in Brussels on 14-15 December, Orban insisted that a “strategic discussion” is needed first about Ukraine‘s European future and warned that forcing a decision could destroy EU unity.

“I respectfully urge you not to invite the European Council to decide on these matters in December as the obvious lack of consensus would inevitably lead to failure,” Orban wrote in the letter, dated 4 December and seen by The Associated Press. EU leaders, he wrote, “must avoid this counterproductive scenario for the sake of unity, our most important asset.”

Putin was given an explanation of a Soviet nuclear bomb design and shown a mock control panel for launching a nuclear test, before observing images of a blast and mushroom cloud through a viewing window.

Since the start of the Ukraine war, Putin has frequently affirmed the capabilities of Russia’s nuclear arsenal, saying anyone who tried to launch a nuclear attack against it would be wiped from the face of the earth.

This month, he is expected to confirm that he will run for another six-year term in March.

He was shown with a group of schoolchildren writing a message on a giant whiteboard about his hopes for their future, and selecting from among wishes that children had pinned to a Christmas tree in the hope he could make them come true.

The head of Poland’s national security agency has estimated that Russia could attack NATO countries within three years.

The minister suggested that an attack could come from NATO’s eastern flank which includes countries such as Poland, Estonia, Romania and Lithuania. He estimated they had three years to prepare for a confrontation.

In an interview with Nasz Dziennik, Jacek Siewiera, head of the National Security Bureau responded to a report by the think tank, Germany Foreign Policy Association.

While the think tank estimated that Western countries have 5 to 9 years left to prepare to repel an attack from Moscow, the Secretary of State at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland said that Germany analysts were too optimistic.

“If we want to avoid war, NATO countries on the eastern flank should adopt a shorter, 3-year time horizon to prepare for confrontation.

“This is the time when a potential must be created on the eastern flank that would be a clear signal deterring aggression,” he said. “Therefore, it is necessary to further increase the number of Polish troops.”