On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cautioned that Ukraine’s efforts to defend against Russia could be jeopardized without Congress approving additional aid.

During a press conference in Washington with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Blinken stated that if it is not present, all the progress made by Ukrainians, which we have assisted in achieving, will be at risk.

The leader of NATO expressed assurance that the U.S. will maintain its backing for Ukraine, emphasizing that it is in the best interest of the U.S. to prevent Russia from succeeding in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg added that supporting Ukraine is a collaborative endeavor with NATO partners and is not seen as a charitable act, but rather as a “strategic investment in our own security.”

In a recent interview on Fox News Sunday, Stoltenberg stated that a victory for Russia would encourage other authoritarian regimes to also seize land in different regions of the world. He also noted that Beijing is closely monitoring NATO’s reaction to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The country in focus is Ukraine today, but it could be Taiwan tomorrow,” stated the leader of NATO.

On Sunday, Stoltenberg stated that NATO’s military exercises in 2024, which are the most expansive since the Second World War, are intended to avert war rather than incite it.

Around 90,000 NATO military members will participate in Operation Steadfast Defender 24, taking part in various exercises across Europe in the upcoming months. There will be 50 naval ships, 80 aircraft, and more than 1,100 combat vehicles involved.

OCHA-Ukrainian relief

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has stated that recent attacks in Ukraine, both on Monday and over the weekend, are aggravating the hardships faced by civilians who are already struggling with severe winter weather.

According to Ukrainian authorities, numerous civilian casualties and injuries have been reported in recent attacks in various regions of eastern, central, and southern Ukraine. The attacks have also caused damage to residential buildings, educational institutions, a hospital, and energy infrastructure.

According to the governor of the oblast, homes and electrical grids in the eastern region of Kharkiv were damaged due to shelling. In the southern region of Kherson, attacks over the weekend caused damage to homes, education facilities, and telecommunications facilities.

The United Nations and its collaborators are still offering critical humanitarian aid to individuals in these regions.

In total, the U.N. and its collaborators delivered 107 humanitarian missions last year to aid approximately 400,000 individuals in communities on the front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine.

On Monday, Ukraine announced that their air defense system successfully intercepted and destroyed eight drones that were launched by Russia in attacks overnight.

The Ukrainian air forces reported that the drones were eliminated in various regions of the country, such as Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytskyi, and Rivne.

Along with the unmanned aerial vehicles, the Russian assaults also involved three S-300 missiles.

Russian-Belarus alliance

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Monday with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, to discuss expanding their alliance, which has already seen the deployment of some of Russia’s nuclear weapons on the territory of its neighbor.

Putin highlighted the “strategic partnership” between the two countries, which is a part of their 25-year agreement that includes political, economic, and military connections between them.

During the discussions in St. Petersburg, involving high-ranking officials from Russia and Belarus, Putin emphasized the significance of the two countries’ close cooperation and unwavering support for each other as strong allies, particularly in the face of unprecedented foreign pressure.

For almost thirty years, Lukashenko has maintained his power in the former Soviet country through Russian financial aid and political backing. With Moscow’s assistance, he was able to withstand significant demonstrations following his controversial reelection in 2020, which both the opposition and Western nations believed to be fraudulent.

In February 2022, Lukashenko permitted the Kremlin to utilize Belarusian land for the deployment of troops into Ukraine.

Hungary-Ukraine talks

On Monday, Hungary stated that it is prepared to reach a mutual agreement that would allow the proposed European Union aid of $54 billion for Ukraine to be funded through the bloc’s budget. This comes ahead of an emergency summit on Thursday.

In February 2022, Prime Minister Viktor Orban expressed opposition towards the EU’s financial and military aid to Kyiv and has maintained a strong relationship with the Kremlin since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

If Hungary declines to accept the package, leaders of the EU have suggested an alternate solution that involves a agreement between 26 members and Ukraine. This would also result in Budapest being unable to access EU funds that are linked to this deal.

The Foreign Affairs Minister of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto, had a meeting with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, in Kyiv to talk about providing assistance and to address limitations on the rights of the ethnic Hungarian population in the western Ukrainian area of Zakarpattia to receive education in their mother tongue.

The Hungarian official stated that Hungary hopes for the Hungarian community to reclaim their rights from 2015. They also mentioned that there is still a lot of work to be done, but they are prepared to do it.

Kuleba stated that he believes the issue regarding the Hungarian minority has been fully addressed, but a collaborative committee will be formed to review how Kyiv can meet Budapest’s additional requests regarding the Hungarian community in Ukraine. The committee will present its findings to the respective governments within 10 days.

This marked Szijjarto’s initial trip to Ukraine post-Russia’s invasion in February 2022 and the sole formal meeting between the two leaders in the past two years.

Sources for this report included The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Reuters.

Source: voanews.com