Ukraine can beat Russia ... with our help, says US envoy
UKRAINE can beat Russia with the help of its Western allies, the US ambassador to Britain said, as she echoed Washington’s calls for Congress to pass a $60 billion (£47.6 billion) aid bill.
Speaking at a live recording of The Telegraph’s Ukraine: The Latest podcast at the US Embassy in London, Jane Hartley said British tanks and American aircraft had “greatly weakened” Moscow’s forces. Ukraine has made “great sacrifices” but also achieved “great victories” with Western support since the war began almost two years ago, she said. Kyiv “will win – with our help”, she added.
Bill Taylor, a former US ambassador to Ukraine also speaking at yesterday’s event, issued a strong critique of the UN, claiming the war showed it had “failed in its basic mission” of preventing “someone violating the precepts of sovereignty and independence”.
Their remarks came after the US Senate passed a $95 billion (£75 billion) spending package including £47.6billion for Ukraine by 70 votes to 29 earlier this week. Ms Hartley said the level of support for the bill showed there was bipartisan backing to defend Ukraine against Moscow. “The US and our allies continue to have one goal in mind: to see that Ukraine wins this war,” she said. “Ukraine will continue to see success and it will win – with our help.”
On Wednesday, Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, warned Congress not to repeat the mistakes of the 1930s and display “the weakness displayed against Hitler” by refusing to pass the aid package. In a sign of GOP resistance, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia representative, told Lord Cameron he could “kiss my a-- ... We’re all sick of the absurd name-calling, it isn’t going to bully me into funding the war in Ukraine”.
TRAVIS KELCE, the boyfriend of Taylor Swift, has led tributes from Kansas City Chiefs players to the victims of the mass shooting that turned the NFL team’s Super Bowl victory parade into chaos and tragedy.
The 34-year-old tight end said he was “heartbroken” by the attack, which killed one person and injured at least 21 others, including nine children.
“My heart is with all who came out to celebrate with us and have been affected. KC, you mean the world to me,” said Kelce, who chose not to incorporate a call for gun reform into his public response, unlike some of his team-mates.
The tributes came as police revealed they suspected a personal dispute lay behind the shooting.
Stacey Graves, Kansas City police chief, said there was no link to terrorism or homegrown extremism.
“This appeared to be a dispute between several people that ended in gunfire,” she added. KKFI, a local radio station, identified the victim as Lisa Lopez, one of its DJS.
None of the football team, its coaches or other staff attending the rally was injured, the Chiefs said.
Stacey Graves, the Kansas City police chief, said on Wednesday evening that three people were detained “and under investigation” in connection with the shooting but said investigators had yet to determine a motive.
It also emerged that in the aftermath of the shooting many players comforted children caught up in the shooting.
Trey Smith and another player found shelter in a closet during the shooting, he told Good Morning America, helping as many people as possible do the same.
The Kansas City Chiefs have been the target of a far-right conspiracy theory that alleged the Super Bowl was rigged in their favour to allow Swift to exploit the event’s publicity to endorse Joe Biden for a second term in office.
After the shooting, “false flag” conspiracy theorists revived comments made by Kelce in 2015, in which he called for “more strict gun laws, especially when toddlers are dying”.
Extremists on social media claimed the historical remarks were made surrounding the Kansas shooting and that they were part of a Democrat plan to fake an attack and use Kelce and Swift to campaign for restricted gun ownership laws.