| UKRAINE CRISIS: On the sixth day of war between Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday, questions in Washington remained the same: How long can Kyiv and the country’s major cities hold out under increasingly powerful Russian bombardments? What’s the immediate response if Russia strikes out against a NATO country? If Russia’s oil and gas economic lifeblood is not more assertively blocked by the U.S. and other countries, can Moscow muscle through international sanctions, and for how long? Will billions of dollars in proposed U.S. assistance to Ukraine, still being debated in Congress, be an empty gesture if the Kremlin controls Ukraine’s government within weeks? “We are inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine,” Biden said during his State of the Union address. “Putin is now isolated from the world more than ever. … He has no idea what’s coming.” As of this writing on Wednesday, Russia accelerated its push to seize key Ukrainian cities and its military claims to be in control of Kherson, a port city with a strategically important location near the Black Sea. The claim could not immediately be verified and Ukrainian officials said the battle for Kherson continued (The New York Times and The Associated Press). The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press: The United States will ban Russian flights from American airspace, Biden says. The Associated Press: Mexico will not impose sanctions on Russia. Biden spoke early Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who continued pleading with the United States and European allies to bolster Ukraine’s defenses with a no-fly zone to stop the Russian air force, a request by a non-NATO member that has no takers for fear of escalating the conflict with Moscow. While Zelensky continued to work the phones and social media, he also told Russia to stop its bombing in order to conduct cease-fire negotiations (Reuters). On Wednesday evening, a Russian delegation will be ready to resume talks with Ukrainian officials about the war in Ukraine, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who told reporters, “our delegation will be in place to await Ukrainian negotiators.” He did not indicate a location. There was no immediate word from Ukrainian authorities about their plans. The two sides last negotiated on Sunday with no breakthrough (The Associated Press). As of Wednesday, a miles-long Russian convoy of reinforcements continued to slowly approach Kyiv’s doorstep following explosions Tuesday that struck official government structures, knocked out a TV tower and left behind civilian casualties. Zelensky, who has barely slept and gave an interview to CNN and Reuters on Tuesday from his undisclosed and guarded bunker, on Wednesday used Facebook to try to rally Ukrainians and those in explosion-rattled Kyiv to fight on. “Today you, Ukrainians, are a symbol of invincibility,” he said. “A symbol that people in any country can become the best people on earth at any moment.” NATO scheduled an emergency meeting Friday in Brussels of foreign ministers to discuss the crisis and implications for the alliance. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will attend in person, meet with European Union officials, and travel to Moldova and the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The war has led to the largest migration of refugees seen in Europe in many decades, mostly women and children. As of this writing, the United Nations estimates that at least 677,000 people have fled Ukraine, a country of 44 million people, into neighboring countries (The New York Times). Global efforts to offset some of the war’s economic impacts continue. The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced that member countries, including the United States, had agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves. The agency, responding to supply concerns and oil prices exceeding $100 a barrel, said the aim was to send “a unified and strong message to global oil markets that there will be no shortfall as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” The IEA said that the release was the fourth in its history and would provide the equivalent of 2 million barrels a day, or about 2 percent of global consumption, for 30 days. Thirty million barrels will come from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and another 30 million barrels will come from allies in Europe and Asia (Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands and other major European countries as well as Japan and South Korea) (CNN). Some private companies and U.S. legal and lobbying firms rushed to shed associations with Russia, drop contracts, divest holdings tied to Russia and block sales to the country. Exxon Mobil said it will exit Russia, leaving $4 billion in oil and gas operations in doubt (Reuters). “What we’re seeing here is a forcing mechanism,” Benjamin Freeman, a research fellow at the Quincy Institute who focuses on the influence of foreign money, told The New York Times. The terms of some sanctions require severing ties, he said, adding, “But even if they don’t have to drop them, to me there is a huge reputational cost right now to working on behalf of Russian interests.” Apple has stopped selling its products at its Apple Store in Russia, the company confirmed on Tuesday. Apple products were listed as “unavailable” for purchase or delivery in the country. The company said it also removed Russian state-controlled outlets RT News and Sputnik News from the Apple App Store around the world (CNBC). Satellite broadcaster DirectTV in the U.S. also stopped carrying RT broadcasts “effective immediately” (Hollywood Reporter). Roku did the same (The Hill). German company DHL said it has stopped making deliveries in Russia and Belarus (AFP). The Hill and The Associated Press: What is Putin thinking? The Hill: No matter how Ukraine is governed in the days ahead, the country could face environmental catastrophes. > Congress & Ukraine: Senators during a Tuesday committee hearing debated whether U.S. intelligence forces should be sent into Ukraine to provide more direct covert assistance to the Ukrainian military, including potentially on-the-ground operatives to help stop a Russian military column near Kyiv (The New York Times). The Washington Post: Some lawmakers are proposing $10 billion in U.S. emergency assistance to Ukraine, still being drafted with the aim of passage later this month. Biden asked Congress for $6.4 billion. 
© Associated Press/Jose Luis Magana ***** POLITICS: The contest in Texas’s 28th Congressional District may head into extra innings. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) holds a narrow lead over progressive Jessica Cisneros and has, at the very least, clinched a runoff contest in late May, with the possibility of reaching the 50 percent threshold to win the Democratic nomination outright. As of this morning, Cuellar leads with exactly 50 percent of the vote to 45.4 percent for Cisneros (26,016 votes to 23,620 votes), with 99 percent of precincts reporting. Cuellar, a nine-term lawmaker, is the highest-ranking moderate remaining in a race that became a proxy battle between centrists and progressives. Two years ago, he defeated Cisneros by a 3.6-point margin, but since then things have become complicated for Cuellar, whose house was raided by the FBI in late January as part of an ongoing investigation (The Texas Tribune). Across the aisle, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Trump-endorsed candidate, advanced to a runoff against George P. Bush, the state’s land commissioner. Paxton pulled in 42.7 percent of the vote on Tuesday, one of the loudest voices in the GOP to contest Trump’s electoral loss in 2020, followed by Bush with 22.8 percent (The Hill). Runoff elections are scheduled May 24. The Texas Tribune: Parties’ activist wings see mixed results in Texas as Gov. Greg Abbott (R) advances, progressives fall short of goals. The Hill: Five takeaways from the Texas primaries. The New York Times: How immigration politics drives some Hispanic voters to the GOP in Texas. > GOP infighting: Tensions between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) spilled into public view on Tuesday as the GOP leader batted away a tax proposal by the Florida senator in an unusual airing of grievances between the two top Republicans. McConnell and GOP leaders questioned Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), during a Monday night meeting over his 11-point proposal that has opened the door to a cavalcade of Democratic attacks. The attacks continued on Tuesday with McConnell taking a two-by-four to two of Scott’s proposals (Axios). “We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years,” McConnell said. “That will not be part of the Republican Senate Majority agenda. We will focus instead on what the American people are concerned about: inflation, energy, defense, the border and crime.” Previously, McConnell told reporters that the Senate GOP would not be releasing an agenda before the midterm elections, instead keeping the attention on the troubles facing Biden and Democrats, who are seeing their hopes of maintaining their grip on Congress dwindle. Scott has maintained that the proposal came in his capacity as a rank-and-file senator rather than his perch atop the NRSC, but some senators did not buy that. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a top McConnell ally, told Politico that his NRSC position “makes it a little confusing.” Jordain Carney, The Hill: McConnell, Scott face off over GOP's agenda. The Hill: Biden rejects executive privilege for ex-Trump advisers Michael Flynn, Peter Navarro. 
© Associated Press/J. Scott Applewhite > Establishment fights back: The Russian invasion of Ukraine is giving fresh momentum to the U.S. foreign policy hawks and the pro-NATO wing of the GOP after years of broadsides from the America First crowd. McConnell and other top Republicans have leveled intense criticisms of Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) for speaking at a white nationalist event last week, using the opportunity to pan them for pro-Putin stances in recent years. In addition, former President Trump’s praise of Putin last week has also backfired as lawmakers roundly blame Putin for the situation in Ukraine (The Hill). The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Herschel Walker pulls out of event featuring Greene after she spoke at pro-Putin, white nationalist rally. The Hill: Clash between Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) sparks GOP concerns. Reid Wilson, The Hill: Rising number of families struggle to meet expenses after expiration of child tax credit. | 
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