Joe Biden accuses Putin of trying to break EU & NATO; asks Congress to pass Ukraine aid

US President Joe Biden, on Monday, said that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, thought he could break up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and also the European Union (EU). Speaking at a fundraiser event for the Democratic National Committee in Maryland, he slammed his Russian counterpart for attempting to invade Ukraine. Later, speaking off camera, Biden said that Putin was "very calculative," but he could not find a way out of the ongoing war. 

On the same day, he urged Congress to quickly approve a multi billion dollar aid package for Ukraine before trying to pass a new round of COVID funding, warning that the US aid that the fighters have is nearly exhausted. "We cannot afford delay in this vital war effort," Biden told Congress, adding that decoupling both the bills could expedite the process of approval. Notably, the statement came in contrast with Biden’s previous stance, wherein he recommended both the financial and non-financial packages to be bundled together. 

"Previously, I had recommended that Congress take overdue action on much-needed funding for COVID treatments, vaccines, and tests as part of the Ukraine Supplemental bill," Biden said in a statement released by the White House. However, I have been informed by Congressional leaders in both parties that such an addition would slow down action on the urgently needed Ukrainian aid — a view expressed strongly by several Congressional Republicans," Biden said.

US to double arms production 

American aerospace, arms, defence, information security and technology corporation Lockheed Martin Corp has decided to double the production of Javelin missiles and anti-tank weapons. These weapons helped Ukraine defend itself from Russia. In an interview on Sunday, the Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin Corp, James Taiclet stated that Lockheed aims to roughly double the production of Javelin missiles and the anti-tank weapon that has helped Ukraine combat Russia's incursion. Taiclet further stated that the goal is to increase output to 4,000 per year from the existing 2,100 per year. He estimates that the rise will take several years.  

(Image: AP)