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

On 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 US aid that fighters have is nearly exhausted. "We cannot afford delay in this vital war effort," Biden told Congress, ding that decoupling both bills could expedite process of approval. Notably, statement came in contrast with Biden’s previous stance, wherein he recommended both financial and non-financial packages to be bundled toger. 

"Previously, I h recommended that Congress take overdue action on much-needed funding for COVID treatments, vaccines, and tests as part of Ukraine Supplemental bill," Biden said in a statement released by White House. However, I have been informed by Congressional leers in both parties that such an dition would slow down action on 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 production of Javelin missiles and anti-tank weapons. se weapons helped Ukraine defend itself from Russia. In an interview on Sunday, Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin Corp, James Taiclet stated that Lockheed aims to roughly double production of Javelin missiles and  anti-tank weapon that has helped Ukraine combat Russia's incursion. Taiclet furr stated that goal is to increase output to 4,000 per year from existing 2,100 per year. He estimates that rise will take several years.  

(Image: AP)