| Russia overnight widened its military assaults on Ukraine as the United States and allies prepare today to apply a new economic sanction on Moscow. On Friday, Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine expanded with airstrikes for the first time in western parts of the country as a 40-mile Russian convoy near Kyiv broke up and appeared to redeploy, according to satellite images from Maxar Technologies (The Associated Press). President Biden this morning will announce that the U.S., the European Union and the Group of Seven industrialized nations agree to revoke “most favored nation” trade treatment that currently benefits Russia — meaning many of Moscow’s trading partners will impose higher tariffs on some Russian imports. Members of Congress support revoking the benefit, a sanction requested by Ukraine’s government (The Associated Press). U.S. officials on Thursday, including Vice President Harris while speaking in Poland, backed an ongoing international war crimes investigation of Russia’s actions, vowed additional economic punishments and warned that Putin might order the use of chemical, biological or even tactical nuclear weapons to try to seize Ukraine. Biden continues to try to leverage the sway of other world leaders and economic isolation to try to force Moscow to retreat as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war with Ukraine entered its third bloody week. Biden spoke by phone on Thursday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose country does extensive trade and energy business with Moscow, and the two presidents called for an “immediate cessation of Russian aggression,” according to a White House statement. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday said the U.S. is working with allies “to consider further sanctions.” However, international economic and trade punishments levied against Russia are a long-term strategy that has hobbled Russia’s economy but has not altered Putin’s near-term behavior. “At this point, we are not seeing Russia back off the horrific war they started,” Yellen said during a newsmaker event hosted by The Washington Post. “In fact, the atrocities they are committing against civilians seem to be intensifying” (Bloomberg News). The Washington Post: “No off-ramps.” U.S. and European officials do not see a clear endgame in Ukraine. The Associated Press and Axios: On Friday, the EU’s foreign policy chief said the international nuclear talks with Iran should “pause” because of unspecified “external factors.” Last week, Russia said it wanted “guarantees at least at the level of the secretary of state” that U.S. sanctions would not affect Moscow’s relationship with Tehran. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, during a Thursday interview with Vice News, said he believed Putin will negotiate an end to the war. “I think he will. I think he sees that we are strong,” Zelensky said. “He will. We need some time.” Talks Thursday between Russia and Ukraine aimed at negotiating cease-fires went nowhere. The West condemned Russian forces for targeting women, children and noncombatants while shelling hospitals, airports, schools, apartment buildings and shopping centers, even as the Ukrainian military retained tenuous control of Kyiv, the capital, and other cities (The Associated Press). 
© AP/Bernat Armangue Much of the developed world reeled at news reports and images on Wednesday of Russia’s air campaign against a maternity hospital in Mariupol, a port city in Ukraine in which trapped residents have no heat in dwellings with blown-out windows, no electricity and little food, water or communications. Residents have been told to put the dead in the streets or try to bury their loved ones where they can safely dig some sort of grave (The New York Times’s “The Daily” podcast). Western and Ukrainian officials called the hospital attack a war crime. Harris, who met with the president of Poland on Thursday and today will be in Bucharest, Romania, said Russia’s bombings merit a war crimes investigation, although she stopped short of directly accusing Russia of having committed war crimes. When asked by reporters last week if Russia was guilty of such crimes in Ukraine, Biden replied, “We are following it very closely. It’s early to say that.” Harris went further: “Absolutely there should be an investigation, and we should all be watching,” she said, noting that the United Nations has already started a process to review allegations. “I have no question the eyes of the world are on this war and what Russia has done in terms of this aggression and these atrocities” (The Associated Press). The war has become a horror without end for Ukraine, a non-NATO country that has pleaded to no avail with allies for a no-fly zone, for emergency European Union membership and for fighter jets. Ukraine’s plight has become a humanitarian crisis in neighboring countries, especially in Poland, and the U.S. and European nations are sending aid to help some of the more than 2 million refugees, mostly women and children, who a few weeks ago had jobs, apartments, schools and futures. European Union representatives, meeting on Thursday at Versailles, snubbed Ukraine’s emergency bid to join the bloc. The EU braced for a long standoff with Russia as officials expressed differing views about how far to go with economic sanctions, how quickly to cut Russian energy imports and whether to let Kyiv join the EU swiftly during a wartime crisis (Reuters). 
© AP/Czarek Sokolowski Meanwhile, U.S. officials are publicly describing potential chemical or biological attacks by Moscow against Ukraine. As The Hill’s Ellen Mitchell and Brett Samuels write, officials told Congress that Russia may be laying the groundwork for a chemical or biological attack, and experts and world leaders have openly discussed the risk of escalation given Russia’s nuclear arsenal. “I’m not going to get into hypotheticals,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at Thursday’s briefing when asked what the U.S. might do in response to such a turn of events. “What we’re saying right now is they have the capacity and capability (for a chemical weapons attack). I’m also not going to get into intelligence.” Administration officials on Wednesday cited Russian claims that the U.S. is developing bioweapons in Ukraine — which the administration dismissed as “false” and “laughable” — as a possible pretext for Moscow to deploy chemical weapons while claiming such indiscriminate carnage is defensive. “I think it underscores the concern that all of us need to focus on those kind of issues, where it’s the potential for a use of chemical weapons either as a false flag operation, or as against Ukrainians,” CIA Director William Burns told lawmakers on Thursday. “This is something… is very much a part of Russia’s playbook, they’ve used those weapons against their own citizens, they’ve at least encouraged the use in Syria and elsewhere; so it’s something we take very seriously” (The Hill). The U.S. is not alone in the dire intelligence analyses. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told CNN that she is “very concerned” about such a possibility, adding that it would be another “grave mistake” by Putin. The Washington Post: White House warns Russia could use chemical weapons in Ukraine, rejects false “conspiracy” of U.S. biolabs. Los Angeles Times: Senators question why the White House opposed a proposed Polish plane transfer to Ukraine rejected by the Pentagon as a potential provocation. China is another factor in assessing Russia’s next moves. Beijing has thus far declined to join other nations in condemning Moscow. Burns told lawmakers on Thursday that Chinese President Xi Jinping has been “unsettled” by the war and the unity it has inspired in the West. As The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant noted, the CIA chief argued that Xi is worried about global economic consequences as well as damage to his reputation while associated with the “ugliness” of Russia’s war. In all, it makes China a wild card as the war drags on. Bloomberg News: U.S. slams China for pushing Russia’s “preposterous” lab theory. The New York Times: Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are winding down in Russia, the first big banks to exit. NBC News: Which companies have stopped doing business with Russia? The Guardian and The New York Times: Facing economic calamity, Russia talks of seizing the assets of Western companies that are exiting the country. ****** CONGRESS: On Thursday night, Biden issued a warning to his party about the possibility of Republicans taking control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections. As Democrats work to keep control on Capitol Hill, Biden urged a revival of his party’s 2020 enthusiasm. “If we don’t do that, don’t do that, it’s going to be a sad, sad two years. Think about Republicans if they controlled the Congress these last two years,” he said during remarks to Democratic National Committee members (The Hill). The Wall Street Journal: Biden, Democrats lose ground on key issues, poll finds. Politico: Democrats see midterm hope in Biden bounce. The Hill and NBC News: The Senate on Thursday passed a sprawling $1.5 trillion spending bill that would prevent a government shutdown and provide $13.6 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine. The president is expected to sign the measure into law before government funding runs out tonight. The legislation passed 68-31 after receiving House approval on Wednesday. The bipartisan spending measure would fund the federal government through Sept. 30, with increases to both defense and non-defense programs over 2021 levels. The Ukraine-related spending includes money for humanitarian aid and $6.5 billion for the Defense Department — $3.5 billion to replenish equipment sent to Ukraine and $3 billion for U.S. troops who are helping NATO member states in Europe. It also provides money to support Ukraine’s energy grid and to combat disinformation. | 
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