Biden to spend more than $500M in direct support to Ukraine

President Joe Biden stated on Wednesday that the United States will provide another $500 million in direct help to Ukraine, the latest in a series of cash infusions to Kyiv as the Russian assault continues.

According to a White House statement, Biden informed Zelenskyy during a 55-minute phone conversation about the latest developments in the battle that the assistance was on its way.

READ ALSO: A breakaway Georgian province, has declared its intention to join Russia in the war against Ukraine

Early this month, the United States Congress authorized the expenditure of up to $13.6 billion in humanitarian and military assistance for Ukraine. Before Wednesday’s statement, the Biden administration had already shipped $2 billion of that amount.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Congress is considering legislation that would make it easier for people to vote online. United States intelligence authorities have established that Russian President Vladimir Putin is being mislead by his advisers about his nation’s military’ poor performance in Ukraine, according to a senior administration official in the United States.

Officials from the Russian military, who spoke on the condition of anonymity Wednesday to discuss recently declassified intelligence, said the findings indicate that President Vladimir Putin is aware of the situation and that there is now persistent tension between him and senior Russian military officials.

The Biden administration is confident that disclosing the findings will prompt Putin to rethink his options in the Ukrainian conflict. As Ukrainian military and volunteers mount an unexpectedly strong defense, the conflict has come to a violent halt in parts of the country, with severe fatalities and Russian troop morale falling.

In exchange for the exposure, Putin, who U.S. officials have said appears to be motivated at least in part by a desire to reclaim Russian status that was lost with the collapse of the Soviet Union, may become even more isolated.

The official did not provide any specifics on the facts that led to the conclusion reached by U.S. intelligence.

According to the intelligence community, Putin was completely unaware that his military was using and losing conscripts in Ukraine at the time of the incident. Furthermore, they have discovered that Putin is not completely aware of how severely the Russian economy is being harmed as a result of economic sanctions imposed by the United States and allies.

Officials say the findings reflect a “clear breakdown in the flow of correct information” to Putin and demonstrate that Putin’s closest advisers are “afraid to tell him the truth,” according to the official.

In response to Russia’s public announcement on Tuesday that it will scale back activities near Kyiv in an effort to improve trust in continuing discussions between Ukrainian and Russian officials in Turkey, the White House expressed doubt.

READ ALSO: A breakaway Georgian province, has declared its intention to join Russia in the war against Ukraine

“It’ll be interesting,” Biden replied when asked about the announcement. In the meanwhile, I’m not making any assumptions based on their conduct.

In a statement, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield stated that the administration considers any transfer of Russian forces to be a “redeployment, not a withdrawal,” and that “no one should be misled” by Russia’s announcement.

On Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden called with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the latest developments in the war.

Putin has always been regarded as reclusive and surrounded by bureaucrats who do not always tell him the truth by those outside of the country. Officials from the United States have stated publicly that they believe the limited flow of information –– which may have been exacerbated by Putin’s increased isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic –– may have given the Russian president unrealistic expectations about how quickly he could overrun Ukraine.

Prior to the war, the Biden administration conducted an unprecedented campaign to disclose what it considered to be Putin’s invasion intentions, based on intelligence findings, which was widely publicized. However, although Russia continued to occupy Ukraine, the White House was generally credited with bringing attention to the country and convincing originally hesitant partners to support strong sanctions that have battered the Russian economy.