The battle between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Mike Johnson over Ukraine aid and immigration policy is coming to a head this week as Congress races to avert a 20 January partial lapse in government funding.

White House officials met with executives from Palantir Technologies, Anduril Industries, Fortem, Skydioand other defence companies on Monday to discuss battlefield technologies that can aid Ukraine in its bid to combat Russia’s invasion.

Russia hits Ukraine with new missile barrage as cold sets in

Ukraine said at least four people were killed in the second large-scale barrage launched by Russia this year as temperatures in the embattled country dropped below freezing.

After months of relatively few air strikes, Russia ramped up its bombardment campaign just before the New Year, firing hundreds of missiles at cities across Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv. Moscow’s forces probably used missiles provided by North Korea in the previous assaults, the US said last week.

Ukrainian Air Force command said on Monday that Russian warplanes had fired Kinzhal hypersonic and cruise missiles at targets across the nation. There were explosions in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine and in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to local authorities. 

The attacks left at least another 38 people wounded, with homes and civilian infrastructure hit in the Kryvyi Rih region, the most affected, the nation’s police said on Telegram. 

Kremlin forces also launched a drone attack in the southern Odesa region late on Sunday night, according to Oleh Kiper, the governor.  

The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement on Telegram that it had fired Kinzhal missiles against Ukrainian defence-industry facilities. 

While there were no immediate reports of energy disruptions from Monday’s attacks, the freeze has strained the grid. Temperatures fell to between -11°C in western Ukraine to as low as -18°C in the east. 

Due to extreme weather conditions, 15,000 households lost power and trolleybuses and trams weren’t running in Kryvyi Rih, according to Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the local military administration. Almost 400 locations across Ukraine have no electricity, the Energy Ministry said.

Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said Ukraine had downed eight drones and 18 missiles out of the 59 launched at different regions overnight. The attacks targeted critical infrastructure, civilian facilities, as well as the industrial and military sectors, he said on Telegram. 

Biden, Johnson set for crucial Ukraine aid, border battle

The battle between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Mike Johnson over Ukraine aid and immigration policy is coming to a head this week as Congress races to avert a 20 January partial lapse in government funding.

Leaders in both parties, concerned about the political fallout from a shutdown, announced the contours of a spending plan on Sunday that includes neither the $61-billion in aid to Ukraine that Biden has sought nor stringent border protections that conservatives demand. 

Ukraine is approaching the third year of its war against Russia and is now at its greatest peril of losing US financial support. And a compromise on immigration, with Republicans demanding a once-in-generation overhaul of policies in exchange for their support on Ukraine, remains elusive. 

Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, an independent who has been at the centre of border talks, expressed optimism on Monday that senators were “closing in” on a border deal. She said she “doesn’t know” when any legislation would be written. 

But without a government spending bill to force Ukraine and a border package through Congress quickly, the two now risk languishing indefinitely.  

Defence firms in meeting with White House on Ukraine

White House officials met with executives from Palantir Technologies, Anduril Industries, Fortem, Skydio and other defence companies on Monday to discuss battlefield technologies that can aid Ukraine in its bid to combat Russia’s invasion.

National Security Council aides spent hours with more than a dozen companies in the defence, tech and venture capital industries to talk about how the US might be able to provide additional assistance to Kyiv, according to senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief reporters on the discussions.

The group spoke about demining technologies, unmanned aerial systems, and other products to counter Russian use of drones and other weapons systems. The goal, officials said, was to ready the US defence industrial base for both Kyiv’s immediate needs and any future conflicts or critical areas.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan convened the meeting, one official said. 

Officials emphasised that the discussions with defence companies were not a substitute for urgently needed supplemental funding from Congress. Rather, they said, they wanted to hear directly from companies about the capabilities they were developing.

The firms were already working directly with the Ukrainian government, they added. 

Oil slumps as Saudi price cuts underscore softer market outlook

Oil declined after Saudi Arabia cut official selling prices for all regions, the latest sign that fundamentals are worsening. 

West Texas Intermediate tumbled by as much as 5%, the biggest intraday drop in more than a month, to trade near $70 a barrel. State producer Saudi Aramco lowered its flagship Arab Light price to Asia by $2 a barrel — more than expected — due to persistent weakness in the global market. Its pricing was the lowest since November 2021. 

Prices were also pressured by a report that some shipping firms made a deal with Houthi militants to get their vessels safely through the Red Sea. Such a pact would affect a broad swathe of commodity markets as the attacks have caused shippers to re-route everything from container vessels to gas carriers. However, the existence of a deal was immediately denied by two large firms. DM