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Ukraine sees diplomatic gains but military setbacks; clock ticking for Israel's offensive against Hamas; Federal Reserve signals interest rate cuts; and nuclear in, fossil fuels out, at the COP.
Ukraine: diplomatic gains but military setbacks
The European Union agreed to open membership negotiations with Ukraine, a diplomatic victory for Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
But on the military assistance front, Zelensky met with less success. During a visit to Washington, he was unable to secure Republican agreement to pass a new package of military assistance of $60 billion, currently wrapped up in a broader assistance package of $105 billion that includes further US support to Israel and Taiwan.
Last year when Zelensky visited Washington, he was greeted with a standing ovation. This year, Republicans are demanding US President Biden do more to clamp down on the US-Mexico border before they agree to further assistance for Ukraine. The bill looks unlikely to pass before the end of the year.
Further European assistance is also not forthcoming. Hungary blocked a proposed €50 billion EU aid package for Ukraine.
It’s unsurprising that Russian President Putin struck an upbeat tone in his annual end-of-year press conference. (The one in 2022 was cancelled, as the war in Ukraine was going so badly.) Putin vowed to continue pursuing his war goals in Ukraine and expressed confidence that the West’s support for Ukraine was waning, and that it would soon stop sending military supplies to Ukraine.
Putin faces some difficult choices in the year ahead, in particular how to get on top of growing inflation in Russia without crashing the economy, how to fund a massively enlarged defence budget, and the prospect of further mobilisation and conscription drives. But he senses the momentum is with him, and that his basic strategy of patience and attrition is paying off.
The west is becoming fatigued with the war in Ukraine, and that plays into Putin’s hands. Zelensky’s task is to give the west some cause for optimism that the military stalemate can be broken.
(Credit: Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via Reuters)
Israel/Hamas: the clock is ticking
As Israel’s military offensive against Hamas enters its third month, diplomatic pressure to curtail its war effort is growing.
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