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Zelensky on Whirlwind Tour of Europe ahead of US Vote

03 October 2024, Ukraine, Kyiv: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint press conference with New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who makes his first visit in this capacity to Kyiv, capital of Ukraine Photo: Ukrinform/dpa
03 October 2024, Ukraine, Kyiv: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint press conference with New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who makes his first visit in this capacity to Kyiv, capital of Ukraine Photo: Ukrinform/dpa
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Zelensky on Whirlwind Tour of Europe ahead of US Vote

03 October 2024, Ukraine, Kyiv: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint press conference with New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who makes his first visit in this capacity to Kyiv, capital of Ukraine Photo: Ukrinform/dpa
03 October 2024, Ukraine, Kyiv: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint press conference with New NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who makes his first visit in this capacity to Kyiv, capital of Ukraine Photo: Ukrinform/dpa

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to visit Britain, France and Italy on Thursday, part of a whirlwind tour of European leaders aimed at securing aid ahead of pivotal US elections next month.
Kyiv could be facing its toughest winter yet this year, as Russia launches fresh waves of strikes on the country's power grid and advances across the eastern front line, said AFP.
The Ukrainian leader will seek to secure as much financial and military backing as possible during the tour, as the prospect of a Donald Trump victory in November's crunch US vote throws support from Washington in doubt.
Zelensky's travel-packed itinerary will see him meet the leaders of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy -- all in their respective countries within the space of less than 48 hours.
According to Downing Street, the Ukrainian leader will visit UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on Thursday, and also meet new NATO chief Mark Rutte there.
In the afternoon he will be in Paris for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, and is later expected to travel to Rome for talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to Italian media.
Zelensky has an audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican on Friday morning, and will meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on the same day, according to a German government spokeswoman.
A key meeting with international allies planned for Saturday was postponed after US President Joe Biden called off a planned European trip to focus on the threat from Hurricane Milton.
Pivotal US vote
Zelensky says his country desperately needs more aid to tip the balance of the war and secure victory on the battlefield as Russia captures dozens of small towns and villages in the east.
He also wants clearance to use long-range weapons supplied by allies, including the United States, to strike military targets deep inside Russia.
Ukraine relies on billions of dollars worth of financial and military aid from Washington to fight Russia's invasion, and the US presidential election in November could prove pivotal.
Republican candidate Donald Trump has promised to end the war "in 24 hours" if he is elected, a prospect Kyiv fears means being forced to make massive compromises to achieve peace.
Vice President and Democratic rival Kamala Harris has said she would not meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin for peace talks if Ukraine was not also represented.
Zelensky has rejected any peace plan that would involve ceding territory to Russia, arguing Moscow must withdraw all its troops from inside Ukraine's borders to achieve lasting peace.

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Biden Signs Bill That Averts Govt Shutdown Ending Days of Washington Upheaval

United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)
United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)
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Biden Signs Bill That Averts Govt Shutdown Ending Days of Washington Upheaval

United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)
United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)

President Joe Biden signed a bill into law Saturday that averts a government shutdown, bringing a final close to days of upheaval after Congress approved a temporary funding plan just past the deadline and refused President-elect Donald Trump’s core debt demands in the package.

The deal funds the government at current levels through March 14 and provides $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had insisted lawmakers would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to close. But the outcome at the end of a tumultuous week was uncertain after Trump had insisted the deal include an increase in the government's borrowing limit. If not, he had said, then let the closures “start now.”

Johnson's revised plan was approved 366-34, and it was passed by the Senate by a 85-11 vote after midnight. By then, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations.

“There will be no government shutdown,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Johnson, who had spoken to Trump after the House vote, said the compromise was "a good outcome for the country” and that the president-elect “was certainly happy about this outcome, as well.”

The final product was the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open. The difficulties raised questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry Republican colleagues, and work alongside Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who was calling the legislative plays from afar.

The House is scheduled to elect the next speaker on Jan. 3, 2025, when the new Congress convenes. Republicans will have an exceedingly narrow majority, 220-215, leaving Johnson little margin for error as he tries to win the speaker's gavel.

One House Republican, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, criticized Republicans for the deficit spending in the bill and said he was now “undecided” about the GOP leadership. Others are signaling unhappiness with Johnson as well.

Yet Trump's last-minute debt limit demand was almost an impossible ask, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around that pressure. The speaker knew there wouldn’t be enough support within the slim Republican majority alone to pass any funding package because many Republican deficit hawks prefer to cut the federal government and would not allow more debt.

Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate in the new year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.

The federal debt stands at roughly $36 trillion, and the spike in inflation after the coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the government’s borrowing costs such that debt service next year will exceed spending on national security. The last time lawmakers raised the debt limit was June 2023. Rather than raise the limit by a dollar amount, lawmakers suspended the debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025.

There is no need to raise that limit right now because the Treasury Department can begin using what it calls “extraordinary measures” to ensure that America does not default on its debts. Some estimate these accounting maneuvers could push the default deadline to the summer of 2025. But that’s what Trump wanted to avoid because an increase would be needed while he was president.

GOP leaders said the debt ceiling would be debated as part of tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a so-called handshake agreement to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.

It was essentially the same deal that flopped Thursday night — minus Trump’s debt demand. But it's far smaller than the original deal Johnson struck with Democratic and Republican leaders — a 1,500-page bill that Trump and Musk rejected, forcing him to start over. It was stuffed with a long list of other bills — including much-derided pay raises for lawmakers — but also other measures with broad bipartisan support that now have a tougher path to becoming law.

Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency.