General: Ukraine badly needs US aid
WASHINGTON – The top U.S. general in Europe told Congress on Wednesday that Ukraine will run out of artillery shells and air defense interceptors “in fairly short order” without U.S. support, leaving it vulnerable to a partial or total defeat.
In a sign of how scarce some weapons were, Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander of European Command, told the House Armed Services Committee that Russia was currently firing five artillery shells for every one fired by Ukrainian forces and that the disparity could increase in coming weeks to 10 to one.
“If one side can shoot and the other side can’t shoot back, the side that can’t shoot back loses. So the stakes are very high,” Cavoli said.
“They’re really dependent this year on us, Mr. Chairman. And without our support, they will not be able to prevail,” he added.
Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson is refusing to call a vote on a bill that would provide $60 billion more for Ukraine. The White House is scrambling to find ways to send assistance to Kyiv, which has been battling Russian forces for more than two years. Some lawmakers voiced increasing frustration with lack of progress on funding for Ukraine, a measure passed by the Senate already.
During the hearing, Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan said Johnson should put on his “big boy pants” and make a tough choice, even at the risk of losing his job. “That’s what leadership is,” Slotkin said.
President Joe Biden’s administration has voiced concern about the lack of funding for Ukraine. Last month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that Ukraine’s survival was in danger and sought to convince allies the U.S. was committed to Kyiv.
Officials say lack of available funding is already having an impact on the ground in Ukraine, where Russian troops are advancing and Ukrainian forces must manage limited resources. European support has become more important with Biden struggling to get a big Ukraine aid package through Congress while devoting more foreign policy energy to the war in Gaza.
Yet U.S. officials say European support for Ukraine will not be enough. On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced that it had transferred to Ukraine thousands of infantry weapons and more than 500,000 rounds of ammunition that were seized over a year ago from an Iranian shipment to Houthi forces in Yemen.
Switzerland to host peace summit
The Swiss government will host a two-day high-level conference in June aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine, it said on Wednesday, although Russia has made clear it will not take part in the initiative.
Switzerland said in January it would host a peace summit at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and has since held talks with the EU, G7 member states and countries such as China and India to gauge their interest in taking part.
“There is currently sufficient international support for a high-level conference to launch the peace process,” the Federal Council said in a statement.
The conference will be held June 15-16 at the Bürgenstock resort in the canton of Nidwalden outside the city of Lucerne. It will aim to create a framework favorable to a comprehensive and lasting peace in Ukraine, as well as “a concrete roadmap for Russia’s participation in the peace process.”
While Moscow has said it is not against negotiations to end the war, Russian officials have said they will not take part in talks in Switzerland, a country they consider to have relinquished its neutrality with regard to the conflict.
Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has said the Swiss initiative is pointless without Moscow’s participation.
China, a Moscow ally, said last month it would consider taking part in the conference.
Airstrikes kill 3 in Kharkiv region
Russian airstrikes on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region on Wednesday afternoon hit a clinic and a pharmacy, killing at least three people, a local official said.
Kharkiv and the surrounding region have long been targeted by Russian attacks, but the strikes have become more intense over recent weeks, hitting civilian and energy infrastructure.
A 14-year-old girl and two women were killed in the village of Lyptsi, where a pharmacy came under attack, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said on Telegram.
Two more people were injured, and rescuers continued searching through the rubble for victims.
Two guided bombs destroyed a clinic in Vovchansk, injuring one person, Synehubov said. Separately, Russian troops dropped an explosive on a bus, wounding a man, according to the interior ministry.
Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, though the war that began with its full-scale invasion in 2022 has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, the uprooting of millions and the destruction of Ukrainian towns and cities.
Odesa region energy facilities hit
Russian missile and drone attacks damaged Ukrainian energy facilities in the Black Sea region of Odesa and the nearby city of Mykolaiv on Wednesday, keeping up pressure on the embattled power grid, officials said. Russia, which has targeted Ukrainian utilities throughout the two-year-old war, renewed its aerial assaults on Ukraine’s energy system last month with strikes that destroyed at least eight power plants and several dozen substations.
The Ukrainian grid operator said Wednesday’s attacks caused emergency blackouts in the southern regions of Mykolaiv and neighbouring Kherson. The energy ministry said blackouts had affected over 400,000 consumers but power was later restored for most of them. The air force said Russia launched 17 attack drones and three missiles at Ukraine in its latest overnight attacks and that air defenses downed 14 of the drones and two of the missiles.
The strikes on the Odesa region targeted critical and logistics infrastructure, regional governor Oleh Kiper said.