French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Berlin on Friday to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in an effort to reduce tensions over Ukraine that have spilled out into the open in recent weeks, high-level German and French officials have told POLITICO.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will join the French and German leaders later in the day, according to a German official, marking the first meeting of the “Weimar Triangle,” a dialogue format between the three countries, since Tusk became prime minister of Poland again in December.

Long-simmering tensions began to boil over in late February when Macron refused to rule out sending Western troops to fight in Ukraine, vowing to do “whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war.” A more cautious Scholz shot back, ruling out the use of ground troops from European countries.

Days later, Macron appeared to respond directly to Scholz. "Europe clearly faces a moment when it will be necessary not to be cowards,” he told an audience in Prague. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius replied that Macron’s comments were “something which does not really help solve the issues we have when it comes to helping Ukraine.”

German officials complain privately that while Macron has talked tough on Ukraine, he has not followed up with nearly as much military support as Germany has provided.

The French contest those figures, and counter that they give the weapons that really matter. "France has opted for operational efficiency in its military aid to Ukraine: promise what you can deliver, deliver what you can promise,"Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu recently said in a post on X.

Macron this week  postponed a long-planned visit to Ukraine amid tensions with allies over his increasingly hawkish rhetoric. On Sunday the Elysée Palace announced the visit will now take place in the “next couple of weeks.”

The decision to delay was taken to allow time for talks with allies to yield “tangible results” for Ukraine, a French diplomat, who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, told POLITICO.

Officials in Tusk's government have expressed sympathy for Macron’s tougher rhetoric, with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski saying recently that the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine is "not unthinkable."

Scholz, Macron and Tusk to Meet in Berlin to Hash Out Differences on Ukraine – POLITICO

Hungary summoned the US ambassador over comments by the US president, Joe Biden, who said the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, wants a dictatorship.

After the meeting, Trump praised the Hungarian leader in a social media post.

“Viktor is a Great Leader, respected all over the World. Hungary is a Safe Country because of his Strong Immigration Policies, and as long as he is in charge, it always will be!” he wrote.

Furious Hungary summons US envoy over Biden’s ‘dictatorship’ comment | Hungary | The Guardian

Truth hurts.

Look it on the bright side, it also means that the clock is ticking for Russia.

US deliveries from the 300 Million aid package should fill the void until then, and deliveries from Europe are slowly but steadily increasing in the meanwhile, so come June Russia should lose it's artillery advantage and with it, it's ability do conduct offensive operations like in Avdiivka without suffering untenable losses.

Russian upper brasses most probably also know that their advantage is running out, so I expect them to throw everything at the front now, straight into the meatgrinder of well-prepared Ukrainian defense lines.

This will mean more territorial losses for Ukraine until then, but at a very high cost for Russia, which is already a bit hurting for personnel. Reports telling that Russia is slowly lacking trained personnel to man their armament production lines, meaning it's getting more and more difficult to get more soldiers without straining their war economy in the process too much. 

I don't expect Ukraine to really be able to go back on the offensive before Fall, but by then I think the scales will have tipped back in their favor, and even without any further US support I think Ukraine can at least reach parity with Russia in terms of shells.

177 - All Democrats.

What's holding up the other 36 Democrats.

Still not a single Republican.

Total signatures: 177
Democrats: 177
Republicans: 0
Signatures needed: 218
Signatures remaining: 41
Democrats who have not yet signed: 36

2024.01.18 Legislators - Google Drive

Isn't a single Republican with a spine so far who is willing to upset Johnson's fragile ego to save Ukrainian lives.

I don’t think its Johnson who the House Republicans are thinking of, its Trump.

Any Republican who signs it will be putting a target on their backs for primary challenges ahead of the November election.

Are you kidding me? It's not Trump they fear, it's Johnson. He can have them removed from committees. Besides, Trump is going down in November. Mark my words.

Everyone thought that about 2016 and look how that turned out. Also Trump doesn’t need to win to block candidacy nominations. That’s something he’s been very capable of doing in his current position.

I think some of it isn't even fear, although that would play a part for some, I think what we're seeing is largely typical "party over everything else" because the Democrats forcing a discharge petition onto Johnson would be embarrassing for Johnson, the fact it would need a few Republicans is even more embarrassing, the Republicans can't be seen helping the Democrats go against their "boss"

The fact that it would pass with Republican votes if Johnson brought it to the floor for a vote because they'd not be embarrassing Johnson, convinces me even more that it's more about Johnson/The Party than anything else, Imho. If it would pass through a regular vote, it'd be because Johnson allowed it, but the Discharge Petition is forcing Johnson to do something.