Volodymyr Zelensky brought his battle for more funds and weapons to the White House, hinting to President Joe Biden he wants more missiles as conservative Republicans are refusing to budge on aid to the Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president spent Thursday morning on Capitol Hill, lobbying lawmakers for their support. But far-right GOP lawmakers in the House are stiffling aid even as many GOP senators support sending more funds to Kyiv. 

And it appears Zelensky has been unable to persuade them differently. The right-wing of the party voted down Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s defense bill and conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said her ‘no’ vote came because the bill included money for Ukraine.

‘Our Defense bill should not fund our DOD for blood money for the Ukraine war, that’s why I’m a NO,’ she wrote on X

Biden, however, indicated he thought Congress would ultimately agree to his $24 billion proposal for Kyiv, saying there was ‘no alternative.’

‘I’m counting on the good judgment of the United States Congress. There is no alternative,’ he said. 

Zelensky said he had frank conversations with lawmakers during his closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill.

But funding for his country is falling victim to a civil war among House Republicans. The conservative wing of the GOP doesn’t support more money for Kyiv and has sank budget bills that contain it. 

Biden, meanwhile, announced a new $325 million military aid package for Ukraine although it didn’t have all the bells and whistles on Zelensky’s wish list. 

The Ukrainian president wants ATACMS, long-range tactical missiles that Kyiv has been asking for to hit Russian targets in the deep rear of the fight.

‘When it comes to weapons we will discuss everything with a special emphasis on air defense,’ Zelensky said.  

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said ahead of Zelensky’s arrival at the White House that President Biden would announce a tranche ‘of military assistance today including significant air defense capabilities to help Ukraine.’

That will include additional ammunition for U.S. provided HIMAR systems, anti-armor capabilities, artillery, and ammunition. But it will not include the ATACMS. 

Additionally, the first abrams tanks will be delivered to Ukraine next week, Biden announced.

‘We also focused on strengthening Ukraine’s air defense capabilities to protect the critical infrastructure,’ Biden said. 

Zelensky thanked Biden for ‘very productive, strong negotiations. And today we have some important results.’

‘It has what our soldiers need now,’ he said.  

Zelensky and his wife Olena got a warm welcome on the South Lawn from Joe and Jill Biden. Hugs were exchanged and the Bidens rolled out the red carpet for the Ukrainian president and first lady.

President Biden called Ukraine a ‘partner’ and said the US is ‘formalizing our commitment to Ukraine’s long-term security alongside the G7 and with other partners.’

‘We’re supporting a just and lasting peace, one that respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,’ he said. 

The pressure is on Zelensky, who packed his visit to Washington DC with stops on Capitol Hill, the Pentagon and the White House, to appeal for aid after Poland yanked its weapons supply during one of Russia’s most brutal missile campaigns. Warsaw said it would now only supply the already-promised weapons.

The Biden administration is pushing for Congress to authorize an additional $24 billion in funding. Zelensky met with lawmakers on Thursday in his battle to persuade skeptical Republicans in Congress to keep sending financial support.

‘If we don’t get the aid, we will lose the war,’ Zelensky said, as recounted by Senator Chuck Schumer.

On Thursday morning, Zelensky met the speaker, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and other committee chairs and ranking members on the first floor of the Capitol. 

McCarthy, notably, didn’t come out to greet the Ukrainian leader. Jeffries met Zelensky at the Capitol entrance and walked him to the meeting site. 

After the meeting, McCarthy said he remains noncommittal about the $24 billion aid package to Ukraine but said Zelensky answered many of lawmakers’ questions on the status of the war. 

McCarthy and Zelensky met behind closed doors where the Ukrainian president told lawmakers: ‘When this war started, you said to me, Ukraine, stay unified and stay strong. I’m coming back and saying to the United States: stay unified and stay strong.’ 

Before his visit, Zelensky asked to deliver another joint address to Congress, as he did last December, Punchbowl News reported, but Speaker Kevin McCarthy denied the request.

‘Zelensky asked us for a Joint Session and we just didn’t have time,’ McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday morning, pointing out the Ukrainian president had already addressed Congress. Zelensky spoke to a joint session in December when Nancy Pelosi was still speaker.

Congress has already authorized more than $110 billion to Kyiv since Vladimir Putin‘s invasion, and some rightwing members of the GOP have warned the White House they will oppose Biden’s request to send another $24 billion.

Congress has not yet passed any of the 12 spending bills that are needed to keep the government running. It has until September 30th to do or the government shuts down. 

Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul said Zelensky – as part of his plea – told lawmakers ‘he’s winning’ the war.

He said Zelensky told them he needs air cover and long-range artillery for his soldiers. 

Hurting Ukraine’s effort is its spat with Poland. 

Zelensky tried to fan down the flames. 

Despite criticizing Poland at the UN on Wednesday, Zelensky sounded a more conciliatory note when he spoke in the Oval Office on Thursday.

‘I want to thank the Polish people, Polish society for their support. That’s it,’ he said. 

His friendly comment comes as Poland announced it will no longer provide weapons to Kyiv. 

‘We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons,’ Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

Tensions between Warsaw and Kyiv, sparked by Poland’s ban on Ukrainian grain imports to protect the interests of its farmers, have intensified in recent days. 

Poland was one Ukraine’s earliest and staunchest allies after Russia invaded. It has taken in over a million refugees and been Kyiv’s biggest supplier of weapons.

Poland has delivered hundreds of Soviet-era tanks and armored personnel carriers for Ukraine’s war effort, as well as 14 MiG-29 fighter jets.

Warsaw’s government spokesman Piotr Mueller said Thursday that Poland ‘only carries out previously agreed supplies of ammunition and weapons, including those resulting from the contracts signed with Ukraine.’ 

Asked whether Warsaw would choose not to sign new contracts for delivering arms to Kyiv, Mueller declined to answer. 

In the US, Zelensky’s focus is on House Republicans, who have made clear they oppose more funding for the Ukraine. 

McCarthy’s stop-gap resolution to keep the government running while lawmakers negotiate a full budget deal lacks any funding for Kyiv. 

And 29 GOP lawmakers wrote to the Biden’s budget chief to express their concerns about how much has already been given to the Ukraine – $100 billion – and to complain the Biden administration  supports an ‘open-ended commitment’ to the country.

They argue Americans need more information on the war effort.

‘How is the counteroffensive going? Are the Ukrainians any closer to victory than they were 6 months ago? What is our strategy, and what is the president’s exit plan?’ they write.  

McCarthy has made similar comments.

‘Was Zelensky elected to Congress? Is he our president? I don’t think so. I have questions for where’s the accountability on the money we’ve already spent? What is this the plan for victory?’ he said to reporters on Capitol Hill earlier this week.

But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell does support funding Ukraine’s war effort although some conservatives in the upper chamber think the U.S. has done enough to help Kyiv.

McConnell, along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, escorted Zelensky into his meeting with senators.  

The Biden administration continues to push for more funding. Zelensky will cap off his visit to Washington with a meeting in the Oval Office. 

Zelensky’s visit comes at a ‘critical time, as Russia is reaching out’ to countries like North Korea and Iran, White House spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday. 

Biden can get a ‘battlefield perspective,’ when he meets with Zelensky in the Oval Office, Kirby noted. 

While Zelensky was out of the country, Russia upped its aerial campaign, damaging energy facilities and causing power outages in several region.

Moscow targeted Lviv in the west, near the border with Poland, and Kharkiv, close to Ukraine’s eastern front lines, as well as Kyiv, Cherkasy and Rivne. 

Zelensky arrives in Washington after addressing the UN General Assembly as part of the body’s annual meeting.

He also addressed the U.N. Security Council, where he got tough, accusing it of inaction on Russia’s invasion of his country.

‘Most of the world recognizes the truth about this war,’ Zelensky said.

‘We should recognize that the U.N. finds itself in a deadlock on the matters of aggression,’ he noted.

Former high-ranking intelligence official David Grusch has made waves all summer, charging in public and classified settings that the US government has hidden crashed non-human spacecraft from both the public and, illegally, from Congress.

Grusch added to his sworn testimony and classified whistleblower complaint in a new interview with BBC radio Thursday — describing his claims of a classified UFO reverse-engineering program and UFO-related deaths as ‘an act of truth to power.’

He warned that America’s alleged top secret UFO portfolio opens ‘a Pandora’s Box for potential military weapons development-type reverse engineering activities.’ 

And, for the first time, Grusch’s attorney in his active whistleblower complaint, Charles McCullough, also came forward to speak publicly on his client’s allegations.

McCullough, the former Inspector General of the US Intelligence Community (ICIG) appointed by President Obama in 2011, told BBC radio that Congress needs more information on UFOs ‘to properly oversee things going on in the executive branch.’

While Grusch has asserted he has ‘firsthand access’ to some evidence in support of his claims, neither Grusch nor McCullough has said that the UFO whistleblower has seen crashed craft or recovered ‘non-human intelligences’ with his own eyes. 

‘Our government relies on congressional oversight, the checks and balances of congressional oversight,’ McCullough told BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight this past Thursday.

‘David’s allegation, at its base, is essentially that Congress does not have access to the information it needs to properly oversee things going on in the executive branch,’ McCullough said. 

McCullough — who served as Obama’s top legal watchdog over America’s spy agencies, after a decade with the FBI — also confirmed that his client Grusch did, in fact, brief both House and Senate intelligence committees behind closed doors.  

‘He’s briefed both of the intel committees,’ McCullough told BBC radio, ‘and he’s had a two-hour hearing with two-hours of testimony last week.’

And the intelligence committees appear to have taken Grusch’s testimony quite seriously. 

Last month, Senate intel member Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate majority leader, in partnership with Republican Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Mike Rounds of South Dakota, led efforts to appoint a nine-member review panel to assess all classified government records on UFOs. 

That amendment, which contained language echoing Grusch’s claims, has since passed a Senate vote. 

Critics, however, have been quick to point to a statement made by McCullough’s law firm in June, which appeared to dramatically distance the firm from aspects of the news media’s reporting on Grusch and their client’s own extraordinary claims. 

While critics speculated that McCullough might have regretted his involvement with Grusch, the former civil servant nevertheless has stood by his client — quite literally while attending the House oversight committee’s UFO hearing last week.

‘It is unlikely that Grusch, speaking to Congress under oath, would perjure himself so brazenly over such specific, falsifiable facts,’ another past Obama-appointee, former Defense Department official Marik von Rennenkampff, wrote in The Hill this week. 

‘Particularly with his high-profile attorney sitting directly behind him.’ 

If Grusch knowingly provided false material to the ICIG in his formal complaint, the UFO whistleblower could face a fine of up to $10,000 for the criminal offense, under Title 18 § 1001 of the US criminal code, or worse, up to five years in prison, or both.

Such penalties raise intriguing, unresolved questions about both Grusch and the firsthand witnesses whom he says he has referred to the current US Intelligence Community Inspector General. 

‘Given the significant penalties for making false statements to an inspector general,’ von Rennenkampff wrote, ‘it is extremely unlikely that multiple high-level, highly-cleared officials would falsely claim to have first-hand knowledge of myths and rumors.’

Grusch waxed philosophical when asked by BBC Radio 4 why he chose to come forward with his extraordinary accusations of federal government malfeasance on the UFO issue.  

‘I believe the US government should be held accountable for potentially overclassifying or misclassifying basic science,’ Grusch told the BBC. 

‘I found that to be very important, for the public at large to understand, you know, their place in the cosmos, their place in the universe.’ 

‘It boils down to a sense of duty,’ Grusch said, ‘an act of truth to power.’

While Grusch is still forbidden from disclosing certain information, per the terms of his Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review agreement with the Pentagon, he did manage to clarify and reemphasize key facts in his new interview.    

‘There’s certain things that I have firsthand access to that I can’t publicly discuss at this time,’ Grusch said. 

‘However, myself and other colleagues interviewed 40 individuals, both current and former highly distinguished intelligence and military personnel that were specifically on these [UFO crash retrieval] programs.’ 

‘And those that were willing I directed to the Intelligence Community Inspector General. So, the Inspector General was able to interview these people that do have direct firsthand information.’

Grusch noted that the classified UFO program has existed in some form or another for over 89 years and that it leveraged secrecy protocols first put in place for the Manhattan Project: the top secret US military effort that built the first atomic bomb during World War II. 

‘They weren’t sure how ontologically shocking it was gonna be to the world populace,’ Grusch said. ‘So, they decided to keep it under wraps for many years.’

Ukraine’s western allies are ‘all running out’ of weapons to donate, the UK Defence Secretary has said, meaning they may have to buy more to keep Kyiv‘s forces supplied in the face of Russian aggression.

Ben Wallace said that while Western support for Ukraine remains steadfast, ‘we have seen reality, which is that we are all running out’ of defence equipment to donate. 

While Western weapons stockpiles may be dwindling, Russian forces are already lacking in much-needed equipment, he said, with a stark warning that: ‘if you punch Russian forces in the wrong place, they’ll collapse’.

The Defence Secretary was also confident about the progress of the Ukrainian forces, even suggesting that Ukraine could retake Crimea as early as this year in his interview with The Washington Post.

It comes after Rishi Sunak reiterated the UK’s unfaltering military support for Ukraine last week, as Britain sent its most potent non-nuclear missile, the Storm Shadow, to support the resistance against Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

The donation made the UK the first Western country to offer long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, and added to the extensive variety of weapons gifted to Kyiv by the British government.

Britain has pledged tanks, missile launching systems, NLAW anti-tank weapons, tanks and drones to Ukraine.

The UK has so far committed £4.6 billion in arms, the second most of Ukraine’s allies behind the US ($37.6 billion).

It was reported last month that the US has so far sent weapons valued at about $21.1bn to from its stockpiles, including HIMARS launchers, Javelin anti-tank weapons and a surface-to-air missile system.

Mr Wallace’s assessment of existing munitions levels comes after strategic analyst Howard Wheeldon shared concerning analysis around Britain’s military capability earlier this week.

He told the Mail: ‘All credit to the UK government for its fast response and actions, but the sad fact is that after providing an unquantified number of probably time-expired Storm Shadow missiles, the UK has little else it can give.

‘The notion that we might also have been able to provide fast jet capability left much to be desired, for the simple reason we haven’t got enough to defend the UK and continue our international commitments.

‘When it comes to equipment capability and overall available capacity, we are a nation that, when it comes to defence, is already drained of available resource.’

A report published in March outlined that if donations to Ukraine continue at their current rate, it would take ten years for British weapon stocks to reach an acceptable level. 

Addressing the London Defence Conference last week, the Prime Minister said that the UK is committed to supplying Ukraine with weapons over the long-term.

Mr Sunak said: ‘We were the first country to provide [Ukraine] with main battle tanks and longer-range weapons, we’ve also helped with air defence and trained Ukrainian forces.

‘We’ve led the charge on making sure they’ve had the resources and we are going to be steadfast in our support of Ukraine. Our support is not going to go away.

‘Ukraine can count on its allies, particularly the UK, to continue supporting them. We are united.’

Mr Sunak added that Britain was ‘leading the conversation’ with its allies on what long-term agreements can be made with Ukraine to ensure the country’s security.

The Prime Minister also reiterated his ambition to increase UK defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP – but did not set a date for doing so.

Joe Biden again called on Congress to send an assault weapons ban to his desk for signature after the latest mass shooting in Texas left eight people dead.

The president lamented that the ‘leading cause of death for American kids is gun violence’ while listing the moves he has taken to try and tackle the crisis already, noting ‘it’s not enough.’

‘We need more action, faster to save lives,’ he urged.

Biden also blamed Republicans for holding up action and insisted: ‘Republican Members of Congress cannot continue to meet this epidemic with a shrug. Tweeted thoughts and prayers are not enough.’

‘Once again I ask Congress to send me a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,’ he continued. ‘Enacting universal background checks. Requiring safe storage. Ending immunity for gun manufacturers. I will sign it immediately. We need nothing less to keep our streets safe.’

Meanwhile, Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott insisted Sunday morning that the best way to address the exponential increase in gun violence is to focus on the mental health problems at the root of the issue.

The explanation comes after his gun-friendly state saw yet another mass shooting on Saturday that left nine people dead at a mall, including the gunman.

Abbott dismissed critics’ claims that the lax gun laws in Texas are to blame for the increased mass shootings. Instead, he noted that all states have been experiencing an increase in gun violence in recent years.

‘We need to recognize the reality we’ve seen across the United States over the last year or two, and that is an increased number of shootings in both red states and blue states,’ the Republican governor told Fox News Sunday. ‘We’ve seen an increased number of shootings in states with easy gun laws, as well as states with very strict gun laws.’

‘I think that the state in which the largest number of victims occurred this year is in California, where they have very tough gun laws,’ he added.

A gunman with an AR-15 and wearing full tactical gear opened fire at an H&M clothing store in the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, Texas on Saturday afternoon.

He gunned down eight people, including children, before a hero cop took out the shooter. The cop was on scene for an unrelated call but rushed over when he heard the gunshots.

Biden lamented in his Sunday afternoon statement: ‘Such an attack is too shocking to be so familiar.’

The shooting on Saturday comes almost exactly a year after another mass shooting shook Texas in Uvalde last May at the Robb Elementary School.

Abbott said earlier on Sunday: ‘One thing that we can observe very easily – and that is there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of anger and violence that’s taking place in America.’

‘And what Texas is doing in a big time way, we are working to address that anger and violence by going to its root cause, which is addressing mental health problems behind it,’ he told Fox News.

New audio footage of the most recent shooting reveals how the unnamed hero officer made a frantic phone call begging for his colleagues to join him on the scene, radioing: ‘I need everybody I got.’

He bravely ran towards the active shooter – who was armed with 60 rounds and had shot over a dozen people by this point – and killed him.

Around two minutes after first calling for backup, the cop said: ‘I got him down.’ 

Minutes later, another voice is heard on the radio saying: ‘We got victims. I need an ambulance.’ 

The FBI have raided the dead suspect’s home following the civilian massacre.  

A stampede of hundreds of shoppers were seen racing out of the complex while gunfire rained out – as security and police attempted to shepherd them to safety. 

People in the store were frantically ushered into lockable rooms, and when they eventually got the all-clear to come out, they saw the broken windows, trails of blood by the door, and bloodied bodies covered in sheets.  

Dashcam video showed the gunman getting out of a car and shooting at people on the sidewalk on Saturday afternoon. More than three dozen shots could be heard as the vehicle that was recording the video drove off. 

The gunman was using an AR-15-style gun during the mass shooting, and was dressed in full tactical SWAT gear. 

Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd confirmed that seven people died at the scene, including the gunman, and then a further two victims died in hospital. 

Three of the wounded were in critical condition in the evening, and four were stable, Boyd said in an update on Saturday night. 

A Dallas-area medical group said it was treating victims as young as five-years-old. 

Investigators have confirmed that they believe the shooter was working alone, but they have not yet released any motive for the devastating killings.  

Fontayne Payton, 35, was at H&M when he heard the sound of gunshots through his headphones. He said: ‘It was so loud, it sounded like it was right outside.

‘I pray it wasn’t kids, but it looked like kids,’ he said. 

The bodies were covered in white towels, slumped over bags on the ground. ‘It broke me when I walked out to see that.’

Payton then saw the body of the dead shooter – which was the only one not covered, he recalled.  

Another witness, Kimberly Blakey, said she and her daughter, 14, were among the crowd of people rushing to flee the parking lot after the gunfire started.

She said the raining bullets were ‘non-stop.’ Her car got shot at during the ordeal as she tried to escape. 

Blakey told CNN: ‘I told my daughter to get down. I could hear her start praying.’ 

Another witness, Sheliza Ramlall, who was in the Nike store when the violence broke out, said: ‘I had the most horrifying experience earlier. I was standing in line at the Nike store when all of a sudden people started to scream and run. 

‘The people in the doorway saw the man with the gun outside and raised the alarm. All of us in line dropped to the floor and started to crawl looking for a hiding place while falling over each other. 

‘I crawled behind the counter. At that moment, I realized that we were right in plain sight and and figured that I needed to get away from the front. 

‘As I looked to the back of the store, I heard someone saying ‘get to the back, get to the back’ and everyone started running at that point. An employee opened the back door and let us out. We are standing by the roadside shaken, crying, and hugging each other.

‘Not knowing where the gunman was or what was happening on the other side was terrifying but I wanted to get out of there so I left the crowd and started to flag the cars down to give me a lift. 

‘An elderly woman stopped and I hopped in a panic. She started to tell me about the gunshots she heard and drove me to my car. I raced out of there with an elevated heartbeat. 

‘I am grateful for our brave first responders who stopped the shooter and helped the people to safety.’

Mayor Ken Fulk said in a statement on Saturday night: ‘Today is a tragic day for the City of Allen, our citizens, our friends and visitors who were at the Allen Premium Outlets. We know you are grieving, we are grieving.

‘Allen is a proud and safe city which makes today’s senseless act of violence even more shocking. However, I want to commend our police and fire departments for their quick response. 

‘Their thorough training not to hesitate to move toward the threat likely saved more lives today. We also want to thank all of our surrounding municipalities and law enforcement agencies for offering their assistance at the scene. 

‘This collective effort is what makes our North Texas communities united.’ 

Texas Governor Greg Abbott described the shooting as an ‘unspeakable tragedy.’

Witnesses have recalled the horrific moments they realized they were in the midst of a mass shooting – with one man, Steven Spainhouer, saying he rushed to desperately save a child who had been shot.

His own son was working at the H&M store when shots were fired.

Spainhouer told CBS News: ‘I never imagined in 100 years I would be thrust into the position of being the first first responder on the site to take care of people.

‘The first girl I walked up to was crouched down covering her head in the bushes, so I felt for a pulse, pulled her head to the side and she had no face.’  

He said she was already beyond saving.

Still set on saving the mess of victims, Spainhouer recalled how he then found another child, who survived the barrage of bullets by being covered by his protective mother, who he said was among eight to die by the gunman.

Spainhouer added: ‘When I rolled the mother over, he came out.

‘I asked him if he was OK and he said, ‘My mom is hurt, my mom is hurt.’

‘Rather than traumatize him any more, I pulled him around the corner sat him down and he was covered from head to toe.  [It was] like somebody poured blood on him.’  

In recent years, Texas has witnessed some of the most gruesome and deadly mass shootings in America.

Many believe it’s partly because of the state’s loosened gun laws which have come into effect in the past few years.

In September 2021, a ‘constitutional carry’ law came into effect, allowing most Texas who legally own a firearm to carry it openly in public without obtaining a permit or training. 

At the time, Gov. Greg Abbott declared that the law ‘instilled freedom in the Lone Star State.’ 

Just eight months after the pro-gun law was passed, Uvalde, Texas experienced one of the bloodiest school shootings in US history at Robb Elementary School. A total of 19 children were killed, along with two teachers, by gunman Salvador Ramos. 

The gunman, 18, wrote ‘LOL,’ an acronym for ‘laugh out loud,’ on a whiteboard using the blood of his innocent victims. 

For years in Texas, Republicans have waved aside efforts to tighten gun laws after mass shootings, and even expanded gun rights after the 2019 attack on a Walmart in El Paso.