President Donald Trump criticized into Democrats at the opening of a NATO leaders' meeting Tuesday, calling the impeachment push by his rivals “unpatriotic" and “a bad thing for our country."
Trump, who commented while meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, has criticized Democrats for holding an impeachment hearing while he is abroad.
The House Judiciary Committee has set a hearing on the constitutional grounds for Trump's possible impeachment on Wednesday just before wraps up two days of meetings in London with NATO alliance members.
White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney talks with US President Donald after his meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at Winfield House, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019, in London. US President Donald Trump will join other NATO heads of state at Buckingham Palace in London on Tuesday to mark the NATO Alliance's 70th birthday. (AP Photo Evan Vucci)
“I think it's very unpatriotic of the Democrats to put on a performance," Trump said. “I think it's a bad thing for our country."
Trump isn't the only one complaining. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, White House counsel Pat Cipollone and adviser Kellyanne Conway all complained about the committee's timing.
Trump insists he’s solely focused on scoring domestic and foreign policy wins, including revamping NATO so that allies spend more on defense. But he’s often appeared consumed by the day-to-day battle against impeachment.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv needs Patriot missiles to create an air shield against further Russian missile attacks, and it's likely he'll get them in an additional $6 billion aid package expected to be announced by the U.S. as soon as Friday.
Zelenskyy discussed the need for Patriots early Friday at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a coalition of about 50 countries gathering virtually in a Pentagon-led meeting. His address marked the second anniversary of the group, which has “moved heaven and earth” since April 2022 to source millions of rounds of ammunition, rocket systems, armored vehicles and even jets to help Ukraine rebuff Russia's invasion, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the meeting.
The meeting was expected to focus largely on air defense systems, Austin said.
Zelenskyy said at least seven Patriot systems are needed to protect Ukrainian cities. “We urgently need Patriot systems and missiles for them,” Zelenskyy said. “This is what can and should save lives right now.”
U.S. officials said the aid package will be funded through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which pays for longer-term contracts with the defense industry and means that it could take many months or years for the weapons to arrive. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public.
The new funding — the largest tranche of USAI aid sent to date — will include a wide array of munitions for air defense, such as the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System, or NASAM, and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, as well as the Patriot munitions, Switchblade and Puma drones, counter drone systems and artillery.
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group has been meeting about monthly for the past two years and is the primary forum for weapons contributions to Kyiv for the war.
Friday's meeting follows the White House decision earlier this week to approve the delivery of $1 billion in weapons and equipment to Ukraine. Those weapons include a variety of ammunition, such as air defense munitions and large amounts of artillery rounds that are much in demand by Ukrainian forces, as well as armored vehicles and other weapons.
That aid, however, will get to Ukraine quickly because it is being pulled off Pentagon shelves, including in warehouses in Europe.
The large back-to-back packages are the result of the new infusion of about $61 billion in funding for Ukraine that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on Wednesday. And they provide weapons Kyiv desperately needs to stall gains being made by Russian forces in the war.
Bitterly divided members of Congress deadlocked over the funding for months, forcing House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to cobble together a bipartisan coalition to pass the bill. The $95 billion foreign aid package, which also included billions of dollars for Israel and Taiwan, passed the House on Saturday, and the Senate approved it Tuesday.
Senior U.S. officials have described dire battlefield conditions in Ukraine, as troops run low on munitions and Russian forces make gains.
Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, the U.S. has sent more than $44 billion worth of weapons, maintenance, training and spare parts to Ukraine.
Among the weapons provided to Ukraine were Abrams M1A1 battle tanks. But Ukraine has now sidelined them in part because Russian drone warfare has made it too difficult for them to operate without detection or coming under attack, two U.S. military officials told The Associated Press.
Follow the AP's coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
Sec of Defense Lloyd Austin during a House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Defense budget hearing Fiscal Year 2025 on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, April 17, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Davyd Arakhamia, a lawmaker with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party, talks during an interview with Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
FILE - In this image released by the U.S. Department of Defense, German soldiers assigned to Surface Air and Missile Defense Wing 1, fire the Patriot weapons system at the NATO Missile Firing Installation, in Chania, Greece, on Nov. 8, 2017. U.S. officials say the Pentagon is expected to announce that it will provide about $6 billion in long-term military aid to Ukraine. It will include much sought after munitions for Patriot air defense systems and other weapons. (Sebastian Apel/U.S. Department of Defense, via AP, File)
