National

Washington [US], February 29: Negotiations at the White House on aid to Ukraine recently did not lead to any agreement, despite US President Joe Biden warning the country's congressional leaders about the price to pay if Washington does not continue to support Kyiv.
Mr. Biden convened a rare meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on February 27 (local time) to convince US House Speaker Mike Johnson to abandon efforts to block aid to Ukraine, as well as to prevent the government from doing so. US government closed.
"Regarding Ukraine, I think the need is very urgent... I think the consequences of inaction will be extremely dire," Reuters quoted Mr. Biden. A White House statement released after the meeting said Mr. Biden "discussed how Ukraine had lost its foothold on the battlefield in recent weeks and was forced to tightly control the supply of ammunition and supplies due to the The US Congress did not act."
Kyiv is waiting for the US Congress to approve a $60 billion budget package to provide weapons and other support to Ukraine. But Mr. Johnson, a Republican, did not even allow a vote on the bill containing this aid because he wanted to force President Biden and the Democrats to make concessions on border policy.
The meeting at the White House was attended by US Vice President Kamala Harris as well as three other leading lawmakers in both houses of Congress. Democratic leader in the US Senate Chuck Schumer described this as the "most tense" meeting he had ever experienced, and revealed that all sides agreed that Ukraine would lose without support from the US. according to AFP.
Regarding the battlefield situation, Ukraine said it continued to withdraw troops from two other villages near the eastern city of Avdiivka, where Russia took control not long ago. Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that its forces had "occupied more favorable lines and positions" and attacked Kyiv troops near three other settlements, according to Reuters.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Albania to attend a security conference gathering 6 countries/territories in the Balkan region on February 28. On X (former Twitter), Albanian Foreign Minister Igli Hasani wrote that now is "a key time to promote bilateral relations and solidarity with Ukraine in the fight" against Russia.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron caused a backlash from allies as well as a warning from the Kremlin when he raised the possibility of sending Western soldiers to Ukraine. On February 27, the White House rejected the possibility of sending US forces to the Ukrainian battlefield.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper