Washington, D.C
Zelenskyy culminates Washington visit with a White House pledge of $128m
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made his second visit to Washington, DC, since Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of his country.
But unlike in his first trip to the United States Capitol, Zelenskyy faced a congress less inclined to back the war effort with large aid packages, despite pledges from top Democrats to “stand behind” Ukraine.
In brief public remarks before the White House Cabinet on Thursday, Zelenksyy struck a note of gratitude, calling his negotiations in Washington “productive” and “strong”.
“Thank you for all these 575 days,” he said, referencing the length of time since the Russians invaded in February 2022.
“Thanks to the American people, all these days they are together with us, with Ukrainians, with ordinary people, all of us.”
He also highlighted new military assistance, worth $128m, announced by US President Joe Biden on Thursday.
“It has exactly what our soldiers need now,” he said, calling it a “very powerful package”.
Biden, a Democrat, used his presidential “drawdown authority” to authorise the aid, as further funds for Ukraine prove to be a sticking point in the US Congress.
“Today, I approved the next tranche of US security assistance to Ukraine, including more artillery, more ammunition, more anti-tank weapons,” he said. “And next week, the first US Abrams tanks will be delivered to Ukraine.”
The Cabinet meeting culminates a whirlwind charm offensive from the Ukrainian president, who travelled to New York earlier this week to rally support among world leaders at the United Nations.
But as Zelenskyy faced US leaders on Thursday, the stakes were particularly high.
Since the full-scale Russian invasion began in 2022, the US has committed more money than any single country to aid Ukraine, with much of that support taking the form of military assistance.
The US Congress itself has approved aid amounting to over $113bn. But the last time Congress voted on an aid package was in December – and control of the House of Representatives has since switched hands, from Democrats to Republicans.
Nevertheless, Biden has called on Congress to approve an additional $24bn for Ukraine aid, a request that some Republicans, particularly on the far right, have baulked at.
Some have called instead to slash funding for Ukraine, in favour of domestic priorities and limited government spending.
That perspective was on full display on Thursday, as Zelenskyy toured Capitol Hill.
US media reported that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy refused Zelenskyy’s request to address a joint session of Congress during his visit, as he had last December.
And while the Ukrainian leader was meeting with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, 28 Republican Congress members signed and published a letter on Thursday opposing additional expenditures for Ukraine.
The US Congress is facing a September 30 deadline to pass budget legislation or face a government shutdown.
“The American people deserve to know what their money has gone to,” the 28 Republicans wrote. “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 added it would be “an absurd abdication of congressional responsibility” to grant President Biden’s request for more aid without answers first.
Al Jazeera correspondent Kimberly Halkett said the contrast to Zelenskyy’s first wartime appearance in Washington, DC, last December was stark.
“There is a lot more pushback on Capitol Hill than Volodymyr Zelenskyy is used to,” she said from outside the White House.
“Initially, he had received a warm welcome, bipartisan support in terms of approvals for funding for Ukraine’s defence and standing ovations all around. But this time there have been questions about how that money will be spent, where the past money has gone, and even whether the US can afford it.”
She warned that “war fatigue” among the US public would be an ongoing hurdle to Zelenskyy’s cause.
Still, Congressional Democrats rallied in support of Ukraine spending, echoing the party’s commitment to “stand behind” the war-torn country.
“This is a struggle between Ukraine and Russia,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in his weekly press briefing on Thursday.
“But it is also a struggle on the global stage between democracy and autocracy, between freedom and tyranny, between truth and propaganda, between good and evil. And it’s important for us to stand behind Ukraine until victory is won.”
Biden echoed those sentiments later at the White House Cabinet meeting.
“The entire world has a stake in making sure that no nation, no aggressor, is allowed to take a neighbour’s territory by force. The American people will never waver in their commitment to those values,” he said.
As Biden shook hands with Zelenskyy and prepared to leave the Cabinet meeting, a reporter shouted from the sidelines to ask whether the Democrat believed the US Congress would ultimately pass the requested aid for Ukraine.
Biden paused before responding. “I’m counting on the good judgement of the United States Congress,” he said. “There’s no alternative.”
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The suspect accused of gunning down two Israeli embassy staff members outside a Jewish museum in Washington DC has been charged with first-degree murder, as well as murder of foreign officials and related firearm charges.
Wednesday night’s attack is being investigated as a hate crime, and more charges are expected, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said at a news conference.
“This is a death penalty-eligible case,” she said on Thursday, adding that it is too early to say whether prosecutors will decide to seek a death sentence.
Steve Jenson, from the FBI’s Washington DC field office, called the killings “an act of terror and directed violence against the Jewish community”.
Couple Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were shot dead outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC around 21:08 local time (02:08 BST) on Wednesday, police said. The suspect opened fire on a group of four exiting the event, killing the two victims, police said.
Police identified the suspect as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago. He was arrested at the scene shortly after the shooting.
ReutersOfficials said he was seen pacing outside the museum before opening fire. Eyewitnesses told the BBC he initially was mistaken for a traumatised bystander, and given aid inside the museum.
One witness, Yoni Kalin, said people inside had been “calming him down”. “Little did we know he was somebody that executed people in cold blood,” he said.
Police said the suspect also shouted “free Palestine” before he was taken into custody.
The suspect landed in the Washington DC area one day earlier, Jenson said, and investigators are still piecing together his whereabouts before the attack. According to an affidavit, officials believe he flew on Tuesday from Chicago to Washington DC for a work conference.
Social media accounts linked to the suspect show he worked at the American Osteopathic Information Association (AOIA) in Chicago as an administrative specialist since 2024.
At his court hearing Thursday, the suspect was charged and ordered to remain in detention. His next hearing was scheduled for 18 June.
ReutersIsrael’s ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter said shortly after the shooting that Mr Lischinsky planned to propose to Ms Milgrim during an upcoming trip they had planned to Jerusalem.
“They were a beautiful couple,” Leiter said at a news conference.
A vigil for Ms Milgrim was expected on Thursday in her hometown of Kansas City. She previously had spoken out about her fears of antisemitism in American public life. In 2017, she was interviewed by a local TV station after her school in Kansas was vandalised with a Nazi swastika.
“I worry about going to my synagogue, and now I have to worry about safety at school and that shouldn’t be a thing,” said Ms Milgrim, who was in her final year of high school at the time.
Police said the suspect was not on their radar and has no prior interactions with law enforcement. They said he admitted to the attack and is believed to have acted alone.
The gun used in the attack was a 9mm handgun legally purchased in Illinois in March 2020 and brought to Washington in his checked luggage. Illinois has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the US.
Social media accounts linked to the suspect also indicate that he was heavily involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement. Investigators said they were working to authenticate writings online purportedly authored by him, accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, criticising US policy and discussing the use of political violence.
A home linked to the suspect in Chicago was seen being searched on Thursday, and authorities also said they were scouring his electronic devices.
One of his neighbours in Chicago, John Wayne Fry, told reporters that he lived in the same apartment building as the suspect for around a year.
The suspect displayed a photo outside his flat of a Palestinian-American child who was killed in Chicago in 2023, Mr Fry said.
The man who killed six-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi was convicted of hate crime charges earlier this month. Officials said he was motivated by hatred for Islam and the conflict in Gaza.
It is unclear whether the suspect had any direct contact with the boy’s family.
Getty ImagesJojo Kalin, one of the event’s organisers in Washington DC, told the BBC that the event the victims attended was focused on how to build a coalition to help people suffering in Gaza amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
She added it is “deeply ironic that what we were discussing was bridge building and then we were all hit over the head with such hatred”.
The attack was condemned by world leaders, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said he “thoroughly” condemns the “antisemitic attack” in Washington DC.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack “a heinous antisemitic murder” and added that security would be increased for Israeli representatives and diplomatic missions worldwide.
US President Donald Trump also decried antisemitism in response to the attack, writing on his social media platform Truth Social that “hatred and radicalism have no place in the USA.”
Trump and Netanyahu later spoke over the phone about the incident, where the US president expressed sorrow to his Israeli counterpart, according to a readout of the call.
With reporting from Mike Wendling in Chicago
Washington, D.C
Two Israeli embassy staff members killed outside Jewish museum in Washington DC – video
Two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC were shot and killed near a Jewish museum. Metropolitan police chief Pamela Smith said a preliminary investigation showed both victims were exiting an event at the museum when the attack took place. The suspect is in custody.
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