"Donald Trump is tightening his stranglehold on the congressional GOP's policy agenda as he reshapes Republican lawmakers' party orthodoxy on national security and social issues.

Trump's sway was on full display Wednesday as the House tried to take up a warrantless government surveillance bill that was intended to unite the party. Then, hours after the former president pushed to "kill" the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reauthorization, 19 House Republicans did just that.

He's also successfully nudging most anti-abortion conservatives to accept his call to abandon a national standard — what was once a consensus position in the GOP. That's on top of Trump's long-standing opposition to new Ukraine aid, which remains stalled on the Hill."

POLITICO

More Americans Say U.S. Is Not Helping Ukraine Enough

Returning to the issue of Belarus' joining the hostilities, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that Russia's "flag-wavers", as they are called in the Russian media, call for this sometimes. "These calls urging Belarus to enter the war in Ukraine play into the hands of NATO. They are doing everything to drag us into a war with Ukraine," he stressed.

The president explained that in this case, considering the border of Belarus with Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic countries, the length of the front will increase by thousands of kilometers: "We will have to hold this front if we enter the war. Can we do it? We can't. I'm telling you: we can't. "

"If we were to join the hostilities, it wouldn't change anything. They barricaded the border with Belarus up to rafters. Ukraine mined it and deployed 120,000 soldiers."

Lukashenko: No Need for Belarus to Participate in Hostilities Now or Ever

Yes. Because Ukraine would stomp the Belarusian army and then free themselves up to move to the frontlines.

Orenburg, Russia.

Putin does not give a shit about Russians.

US Imposes Sanctions on Use of Russian Metals on Exchanges - Bloomberg

The Former Commander of the UK's Joint Forces Command Has Warned That Ukraine Could Face Defeat by Russia in 2024.

Ukraine could run out of critical air defense missiles and interceptors in as little as two to three weeks if Russia continues its high-intensity aerial bombardments, Estonia's Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said Friday following a recent visit to Kyiv.

If Russia keeps attacking at the rate he witnessed in Ukraine, Kyiv "will be out of the rockets and interceptors in about two to three weeks," Pevkur told reporters in Washington, D.C. "We are not talking about half a year," he said.

Ukraine Could Run Out of Air Defense Missiles in Two Weeks | Semafor

Russia launched another murderous barrage of drones and missiles in the early hours of 11 April, hitting two important gas storage facilities close to the Polish border and wiping out nearly all of Ukraine's coal-based electricity generating capacity.

The effect on the markets was immediate. European gas prices increased 10% compared to the previous day.

Europe benefits from Ukraine's gas storage, but the embattled country must defend them alone. Although Western countries have supplied air defense missiles to the government in Kyiv, ministers say it's not nearly enough given the current barrage.

Many of the targeted facilities are close to Ukraine's western border and could conceivably be protected by batteries based on NATO territory. Or air defense units could be deployed as part of a humanitarian mission. Despite French President Macron's suggestion of troop deployments in dire circumstances, no public discussion is underway.

The crisis is occurring regardless. Last month, another dawn attack hit a gas storage site, as well as other critical parts of the electricity infrastructure, plunging millions of Ukrainians into the cold and dark. The city of Kyiv's largest power station was completely wrecked.

Sound familiar? It isn't. The storage sites were previously spared. These newly targeted facilities are important to Ukraine and to the numerous European gas companies which use them. They form an important element of the continent's gas network.

As of 1 April, there were around 750 million cubic meters of gas held by European companies in Ukrainian storage, whose monetary value is over €200m ($213m) at current prices.

But their importance goes beyond that. They have also provided a safety valve to European companies in the last five years. Ukraine's storage facilities are bigger than those of any European Union (EU) country and amount to about 28% of EU needs.

Europe Slumbers at Ukraine’s Dying of the Lights - CEPA

Western Europe

Shouldn't promise the West shit right now, the West don't deserve a promise of anything when only few of them are stepping up.

“The Speaker is set to travel to the former president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Friday to meet with Trump and has been consulting him in recent weeks on Ukraine funding to gain his support or at least prevent him from openly opposing the package.”

On the other side of the aisle, Democrats have their own demands: Namely, they want a vote on a $95 billion Senate bill — combining aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with humanitarian help for Gaza — which passed through the upper chamber in February with a 70-29 vote. 

“The only way we get aid to Ukraine is if the House takes up the Senate bill,” Smith said. “There may be other things, but the Senate bill needs to get a vote if Ukraine is going to get support.”

Some Republicans are offering their quiet advice, saying the only way to get a bill passed through the divided House is to realize that, whatever you do, not everyone will be happy. 

“To me there’s no question what it’s got to look like: The Senate bill. That’s what it’s going to look like,” said Rep. Greg Meeks (N.Y.), senior Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee. “Time is of the essence and that’s the only bill that will get right to the president’s desk.”

Asked what happens if border language is added, Meeks didn’t hesitate. 

“No deal,” he said.

A handful of Democrats have publicly declared that they will protect Johnson from a GOP coup if he puts the Senate-passed legislation on the floor, which would more than likely pass in a widespread bipartisan vote.

The move would incense hardline conservatives, but also be met with cheers from Ukraine supporters on both sides of the aisle — especially Democrats — a dynamic that is thrusting Johnson into a tenuous tug-of-war between keeping his job and helping the embattled U.S. ally.

“I’m one of those that’d be willing to save him,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas.) said Friday.

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Delay delay delay delay, he has his orders from Trump now though. What a fucking mess, even if Johnson's bill is passed (and that's not a certainty if it turns aid into a shitty loan and adds border policies) it still has to pass Senate who may block it. We may just end up with House/Senate sending it back and forth with amendments for weeks still.

If he just put the fucking Senate bill to the floor, House would have passed it, it would go straight to Biden's desk, it would be signed, MTG would vote to remove him but she's going to do that no matter what, she's a fucking psychopath who doesn't want any Ukraine aid at all in any form, Johnson trying to please every single person in his party, he's an idiot.

The DP is dead but it's good to see who supported it at least.