Ukraine Russia breaking news: Putin rules out peace talks as Kremlin says more US weapons will worsen war

Mr. Zelensky, dressed in cargo pants and his signature military-style jacket, was greeted by the president and first lady Jill Biden, who quickly escorted him through the diplomatic entrance of the executive mansion.

Mr Zelensky’s arrival in the US marks the first time since Russia invaded his country 300 days ago that the ground beneath his feet is foreign land.

Andrew Feinberg there is the story.

The Biden administration’s massive $1.85 billion package for Ukraine will expand, in ways big and small, the ability of Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s troops to absorb incoming Russian airstrikes and continue counteroffensives to repel invading troops.

Zelensky visited Washington yesterday as Ukraine enters the dead of winter with no respite from Russian strikes and the prospect of the war stretching into the winter.

But the Ukrainian president’s visit, followed by the package, would allow the US president to fulfill his commitment to one of Mr. Zelensky’s most pressing demands on the battlefield — a Patriot missile battery.

Here’s a look at some of the weapons systems the US is providing to Ukraine:

Volodymyr Zelensky’s dramatic visit to Washington was a moment for the White House to demonstrate to Russia’s Vladimir Putin that United States will maintain its commitment to the war “as long as necessary.”

It also gave the Ukrainian president, dressed in military green, an opportunity in the spectacular setting of the US Capitol to thank Congress for the billions of dollars that keep his country in the fight.

“As long as it takes” is strong rhetoric, but now it faces a big question: How much more patience will a tightly divided Congress—and the American public—have for a war with no clear end that wrecks the global economy?

A majority of Americans, polls show, continue to support aid to Ukraine as it has managed to push back a Russian army that military analysts — and some U.S. government officials — believed at the start of the war would quickly defeat Ukrainian forces.

Aamer Madhani and Lisa Mascaro have the full story.

Russia has lost 100,000 soldiers, including conscripts, during the war in Ukraine, the country’s defense ministry said.

That’s more than the USSR lost in Afghanistan and more than the US lost in the entire Vietnam War.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry scoffs at Russian Defense Minister’s announcement of awarding so many soldiers for fighting in the full-scale invasion.

“100,000 Soldiers Awarded 10 Months of Full-Scale War – Russian #DefMin Sergei Shoigu. What an amazing coincidence,” the ministry said today, calling the liquidation of a hundred thousand soldiers a “gloomy jubilee”.

A congressional Republican is running in front of him Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech before the Congress on Wednesday say Joe Biden is the biggest obstacle between Capitol Hill and Washington approving more aid for Ukraine.

In an interview with The IndependentRep. Brian Mast of Florida argued that it wasn’t his party that had the greatest resistance to sending more aid to Ukraine, but rather blamed the Biden administration’s perceived lack of strategy.

“There’s a half-assed approach going on…what’s going on here?” remarked Mr. Mast. “The president is doing something like the cover of saying ‘we don’t want to be escalating.’ And that’s a very real thing when you’re talking about a situation where nobody can say there’s a zero percent chance of nuclear war.

“But he’s delusional if he thinks Patriot [missile] batteries are not escalating, or isolating Russia is not escalating, or arming [Ukraine] with everything from 5.56 to 7.62 round e [not escalatory]”, the congressman continued.

John Bowden there are details.

Ukrainian authorities discovered the bodies of seven civilians, including a teenage girl, in a mass grave in the village of Pravdine in Kherson, the country’s defense minister said.

The southern city was captured by Ukrainian troops in November from Russian forces.

“They just kill,” said Oleksii Reznikov.

As of yesterday, the bodies of about 500 civilians who died during the Russian occupation were found in the northeastern part of the Kharkiv region.

Joe Biden accuses Vladimir Putin of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure as winter continues in Ukraine, meaning using “winter as a weapon.”

The influx of more US weapons into the war in Ukraine will further inflame the conflict, the Kremlin said yesterday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the expansion of Western arms supplies to Ukraine had led to “an escalation of the conflict and actually does not bode well for Ukraine.”

It comes after Vladimir Putin said Moscow would use the lessons learned from the war to “develop our armed forces and strengthen the capability of our troops”.

The Russian president added that he would put special emphasis on the development of nuclear forces, which he described as “the main guarantee of Russia’s sovereignty”, in a meeting with the top military leadership.

Vladimir Zelensky thanked the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi after addressing the Congress.

“Met with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi @SpeakerPelosi. Thank you for your leadership in providing support to #Ukraine and the #Ukrainian people in every possible way. It is a great honor to be here to address Congress and all Americans,” he said in a tweet shared by Ukraine’s foreign ministry.

Two international visits this week are strong indicators that Ukraine The war is unlikely to end soon, and a new round of protracted and bloody battles is expected to unfold in the near future.

At the same time, Vladimir Putin has met with Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk as reports continue that the Kremlin may again try to use Belarus as a launch pad for its next offensive, with another attempt to seize Kyiv and force regime change.

The proposed U.S. aid package is more than the $37 billion requested by President Joe Biden and shows a continued commitment to Ukraine in the war, something that may have been diluted if Republicans had made more gains in last month’s midterm elections and had an influx of candidates supported by Donald Trump.

Kim Sengupta unpack what follows.