Egypt is one of the top countries in terms of the amount of foreign aid it receives each year from the U.S. According to a State Department fact sheet, “Since 1978, the United States has provided Egypt with over $50 billion in military and $30 billion in economic assistance.”
According to Russian officials, at least 75 percent of the ruined city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region is under the control of Russian forces. The announcement follows months of intense fighting in the strategic area, with the Russian paramilitary group, Wagner, going so far as to raise its flag along with a Russian flag over the rubble of government buildings in Bakhmut’s city center last week. The outcome of the battle for the city is seen as a bellwether for the remainder of the war by many observers.
In an effort to garner more support for the war in Ukraine from U.S. allies, the White House has decided to send 2 U.S. Treasury officials to Europe and Central Asia next month to demand that Washington’s allies implement sanctions against Russia.
On Wednesday, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov accused the U.S. of “playing with fire” and engaging in a hot “hybrid war” with Russia and blamed Washington for increasing nuclear tensions.
The Ukrainian battle for Bakhmut has not been going well for Kyiv, with reportedly high losses and dwindling munitions and other resources in the east, and despite numerous reports of a much anticipated Spring counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces, the talk has shifted from a planned counteroffensive to a need for compromise.
According to The Bell, on Sunday evening, Russia’s best-known pro-war blogger, Vladlen Tatarsky, was killed in an IED explosion in a bar while delivering a speech in St. Petersburg. Official reports indicate that at least 30 people were also injured in the blast. The assassination of Tatarsky is expected to have greater repercussions than the murder of Daria Dugina last summer, who was the daughter of the nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin.
Austria has joined several Western countries that appear to be becoming weary of sacrificing their money, tax dollars, military equipment, and weapons stockpiles for Ukraine as its war against Russia enters its second year. Even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged this week that “Ukraine fatigue” is setting in and noted that support for the war is waning.
A week after Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited Xi to visit Ukraine soon in remarks he made in a recently published Associated Press interview.
For the time being, Bulgaria will not be joining in the push by other EU member states to send ammunition, equipment, and other military aid to Ukraine. While the decision has placed Bulgarian President Rumen Radev under tremendous pressure from opposing parties, he has stood firmly by his decision.
On Monday, Germany delivered 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine’s border and handed them over to the Ukrainian government. The tanks, along with about 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, were delivered in compliance with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius’ assurance that the tanks would be delivered by the end of March.