Russia’s War in Ukraine

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for more U.S. aid, fossil fuel debates extending COP28, and a Houthi strike on a Norwegian commercial ship.

Zelensky Goes to Washington

One year ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a warm welcome from U.S. lawmakers, who lauded him a David-esque war hero defending his country against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Goliath. The U.S. Congress approved a nearly $50 billion aid package for Ukraine, and lawmakers gave Zelensky multiple standing ovations during his congressional address.

This time around, though, he faces a much more skeptical Congress.

Zelensky met with U.S. senators, led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican leader Mitch McConnell, in a closed-door session on Tuesday to request greater aid for Kyiv’s war effort. He then spoke with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson before meeting with President Joe Biden.

The eleventh-hour Washington invite comes on the heels of a White House effort last week to approve an emergency spending package that would have included more than $60 billion in Ukraine aid. But congressional Republicans continue to block the bill’s passage, insisting that immigration reform measures, including increased security at the U.S. southern border, be included in any new funding package for Ukraine. Meanwhile, the U.S. Defense Department has warned that U.S. assistance will run out by the end of this year if Congress fails to pass an aid deal.

“I do not think it’s hyperbole to say that basically the security of Europe is at stake, and therefore the risk of American men and women having to go deal with another massive war in Europe, as we have before, if we don’t work with Ukraine to stop Russia,” U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Monday.

In a rare critique of U.S. foreign policy, more than 130 European parliamentarians published an open letter on Monday appealing directly to U.S. lawmakers to pass the funding bill. In it, they warned of a coming harsh winter, continued Russian attacks on civilians, and a feared stalemate, which top Ukrainian military commander Gen. Valery Zaluzhny warned of last month. “Without the United States’ decisive and substantial support, Russia might have won this criminal war of aggression against Ukraine already,” the letter said. “At a time when ammunition is running out and the counter-offensive has slowed down, our joint assistance is more than ever necessary.”

The European Union will provide another $54.6 billion to fund Ukraine until 2027, but U.S. Republicans are still pushing back. “If there’s anyone inspired by unresolved issues on Capitol Hill, it’s just Putin and his sick clique,” Zelensky said on Monday.

Today’s Most Read

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• The Original Authoritarian by Daniel W. Drezner

What We’re Following

COP28 delay. Debate at the United Nations climate change conference (or COP28) went into overtime on Tuesday as nations disagreed over how to discuss the future of fossil fuel use in the final text of the summit’s agreement. A draft released Monday stopped short of calling for a “phaseout” regarding the use of oil, gas, and coal—drawing ire from the United States, European Union, and smaller nations at particular risk of experiencing negative impacts from climate change, which had pushed to include such language. Several other countries—including India and China as well as members of the OPEC oil cartel—oppose any language that calls for the phasing out or phasing down of specific energy resources.

More than 200 nations are now engaged in intense shuttle diplomacy to come up with a final draft that all parties can agree on. The summit was scheduled to conclude Tuesday, but few think that an agreement will be reached in time. A new draft text for a final deal is expected early Wednesday, with a potential plenary meeting to finalize the deal later in the day.

Shipping threats. Yemen’s Houthis targeted a Norwegian commercial vessel with a cruise missile on Tuesday to protest Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza. The Iranian-backed militant group accused MK Strinda of delivering crude oil to an Israeli port, but the ship’s owner said it was en route to Italy to deliver biofuel feedstock. A U.S. Navy destroyer quickly responded to the ship’s distress calls.

The Islamist militant group has repeatedly warned foreign ships against venturing into the Red Sea, saying it would target any vessel connected to Israel. Earlier this month, the Houthis attacked three commercial ships that they accused of aiding Israel and launched drone strikes against U.S. Navy vessels.

Fight for Hanoi. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Vietnam on Tuesday for a rare two-day foreign trip to tighten bilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. The two nations discussed territorial disputes, trade opportunities, and boosting their diplomatic designations at a time when Vietnam is inching closer to the United States to counter what it fears is an overreliance on Beijing. The trip follows Biden’s similar visit to Vietnam just three months ago.

Hanoi has increasingly become a key battleground between the two great powers as China and the United States vie for control of the Indo-Pacific. Despite Hanoi and Beijing having similar political ideologies, Vietnam has drifted away from China over confrontations in the South China Sea, with both countries claiming sovereignty over the Spratly and the Paracel Islands.

Odds and Ends

On Monday, Miss Nicaragua pageant director Karen Celebertti announced her retirement nine days after Nicaraguan police accused her of rigging the beauty competition so anti-government contestants would win as part of a plot to overthrow the government of President Daniel Ortega. Celebertti, her husband, and her son were all charged with treason, conspiracy, and organized crime. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “political pageantry.”