Ukrainian president had been expected to join Zoom call but ‘something came up at the last minute’

Several Republican senators walked out of a classified briefing on Ukraine Tuesday as it descended into a row over the border crisis, after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, unexpectedly canceled a video-link appearance to appeal for continued US funding.

Zelenskiy had been due to update the senators on the latest developments in the conflict with Russia and press for them to support a procedural vote expected Wednesday on an emergency aid package that includes more than $60bn for Kyiv.

The cash has been held up for weeks in Congress, as the White House has warned that existing funds will run out by the end of the year and that Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, could win the war if lawmakers fail to act.

  • Flying Squid
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    6611 months ago

    “How dare he snub us just because he’s in the middle of fighting a war! Doesn’t he know how important we are?”

    • @Veedem
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      2711 months ago

      They didn’t leave the meeting because Zelenskiy didn’t join. They left, according to them, because the democrats weren’t willing to negotiate. I’m far from a Republican apologist, but the headline is misleading and I believe that’s all some people in this thread have read.

      • @SkyezOpen
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        3411 months ago

        They wanted to tie border funding to Ukraine aid.

        • @Veedem
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          -2611 months ago

          I mean that’s how Washington works, whether we like it or not. So negotiate.

          • @SkyezOpen
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            4011 months ago

            Negotiation generally requires good faith. You’ll notice we still don’t have a budget.

            • @ghostdoggtv
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              1311 months ago

              We don’t have a budget because of the traitor speaker of the house, Mike Johnson.

              There’s nothing to negotiate. Other countries should operate as if the United States is tied up dealing with a domestic insurgency, that’s how useful we are with republicans in office.

          • Rentlar
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            11 months ago

            We need to tie Ukraine funding with funding Israel!

            We need to tie Ukraine funding with Securing our Border!

            Up Next…

            We need to tie Ukraine funding with corporate handouts!

            We need to tie Ukraine funding with introducing more abortion restrictions!

            Why don’t the Democrats negotiate 😫

            Template:

            We need to tie [something a functioning government would do] with [batshit proposal]

      • @quindraco
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        -1111 months ago

        Lemmings in several subs, this one included, seem to reliably comment on content they haven’t actually read. It’s bizarre.

        • @die444die
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          1111 months ago

          Is it bizarre? That seems to be the norm across all sites like this. People read a headline and have a hot take. It’s not anything new.

        • Buelldozer
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          11 months ago

          The headlines are written to get clicks, normally by presenting a topic in a politically polarizing a way as possible. Netizens, I really do love that word, then react to the headline based on their political leanings.

          So for Lemmy, and indeed most social media websites, that means headlines will be written with a bias best described as “Look at this evil thing that those evil Republicans are doing!” and the predominantly liberal users of those sites read the headline and dive into the comments to shake their pitchforks. If you dare drop into the discussion with anything else they will use their pitchforks to stab you.

          Welcome to the Internet.

  • @oDDmON
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    1411 months ago

    Awww… did de widdle ‘publicans have hurt fe-fe’s? Here’s a Kleenex and my thoughts and prayers.

    • SteefLem
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      1011 months ago

      Something something snowflakes or something

      • @cheese_greater
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        711 months ago

        We all WISH they were as structurally sound and robust as snowflakes

        • SteefLem
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          111 months ago

          They say every snowflake is unique, well They are not…

  • @MrNesser
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    311 months ago

    Bet he tuned in heard the squabbling and immediately nixed the call.

  • lurch (he/him)
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    311 months ago

    Putin probably pulled some shit to get it cancelled for is Republican friends.

  • AutoTL;DRB
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    211 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Several Republican senators walked out of a classified briefing on Ukraine Tuesday as it descended into a row over the border crisis, after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, unexpectedly canceled a video-link appearance to appeal for continued US funding.

    Zelenskiy had been due to update the senators on the latest developments in the conflict with Russia and press for them to support a procedural vote expected Wednesday on an emergency aid package that includes more than $60bn for Kyiv.

    The cash has been held up for weeks in Congress, as the White House has warned that existing funds will run out by the end of the year and that Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, could win the war if lawmakers fail to act.

    Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, announced that Zelenskiy had been prevented from taking part by a “last minute” hiccup, but he pressed ahead with the briefing anyway – only for the proceedings to turn into a war of words.

    Utah’s Mitt Romney left early, confirming that “a number” of his Republican colleagues had followed suit, angry that they had heard nothing on their demand that Ukraine aid be coupled with action on the immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border.

    The House speaker, the Republican Mike Johnson, responded to Young’s letter on Tuesday outlining his caucus’s demands on border security and reiterating his position that funding for Israel and Ukraine should not be included in the same bill.


    The original article contains 796 words, the summary contains 240 words. Saved 70%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!