Closing summary
We’ll finish where we started today, with Kamala Harris’s trip to Poland, although a lot has developed since this morning, US time. The US vice president disembarked in Warsaw from Air Force Two about half an hour ago, just after 10.34pm local time. She was greeted on the tarmac by senior Polish government officials. Her motorcade rolled off to her hotel without Harris responding to journalists’ shouted questions.
But since she took off from the US this morning, when we predicted she was flying into the middle of the MiG muddle, the Pentagon has squashed any idea that the US will be involved in taking fighter jets from Poland and getting them to the Ukrainian military. That should make Harris’s trip smoother, though still a huge challenge.
Meanwhile, the House is expected to vote tonight on a spending bill that includes almost $14bn in aid for Ukraine.
This blog is closing now until tomorrow, in order to devote more reporting resources overnight to the Guardian’s global, round-the-clock Ukraine crisis live blog, which you can follow here for all the updates on Russia’s invasion of its democratic neighbor.
Here’s what happened today in US politics:
- Donald Trump was scared of Vladimir Putin, but also admired the Russian dictator’s capacity to “kill anyone” he wanted, an ex-press sec said.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he believes that ultimately Putin and will suffer “strategic defeat” in Ukraine.
- British foreign secretary Liz Truss said at a joint press conference in Washington, DC, after meeting with Blinken that there will be “terrible implications’ for European and global security if Putin is not stopped.
- Minneapolis failed to follow emergency protocols during protests and riots in reaction to white then-police officer Derek Chauvin murdering Black resident George Floyd, in 2020, according to a report commissioned by the city.
- Vice President Kamala Harris embarked on an official visit to Poland and Romania in the midst of the escalating war in neighbor Ukraine.
A local clerk in Colorado has been indicted on felony charges for allegedly helping facilitate a security breach of her county’s voting equipment, according to a new report.
Tina Peters, the Republican clerk in Mesa county, is accused of giving access to secure areas of her office to a non-county employee in May when voting machine equipment from Dominion was being updated, the Colorado Sun reports.
Secure information from the equipment eventually was leaked online, leading to an investigation of Peters, who has embraced conspiracy theories about the election and appeared at a symposium hosted by Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO who has espoused false claims about the election.
Peters, who is currently running for Colorado secretary of state, faces a mix of 10 felony and misdemeanor charges, including attempting to influence a public servant, criminal impersonation, and first-degree official misconduct. Belinda Knisley, a deputy clerk, was also indicted.
Peters’ case is one of the first cases in which an election official has faced criminal charges for embracing conspiracies about the 2020 election.
The Philadelphia police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Thomas “TJ” Siderio Jr. in the back last week is to be fired.
Police commissioner Danielle Outlaw called the officer’s actions excessive during a press conference Tuesday, saying that the cop violated the department’s use-of-force policy, Axios reports, quoting the chief saying: “I won’t say it was a difficult decision”, while adding that the fatal shooting was not reflective of the department or its values.
Outlaw’s move comes days after Thomas Siderio Sr., TJ’s father, filed a lawsuit in Common Pleas Court against the four officers involved in the shooting, his lawyer J. Conor Corcoran confirmed to Axios.
- “The Philadelphia police murdered his 12-year-old boy in cold blood,” Corcoran said.
Of note: Outlaw has declined to identify the officers due to concerns about potential threats to those involved.
Flashback: On March 1 around 7:20pm, four plainclothes officers were in an unmarked car on a firearms investigation around 18th and Johnston streets in South Philadelphia when they saw Siderio and a 17-year-old, who was wanted for questioning in the probe.
- Police drove toward the pair and activated their car’s emergency lights when they say they heard gunfire.
- A window of the unmarked police car shattered, injuring an officer with shards of broken glass. Siderio and the teen fled, and two officers gave chase, firing their weapons a total of four times, Outlaw said.
- Siderio was shot once in the back and later died at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.
Catch up fast: Police do not have body camera footage of the shooting from the officers involved.
- Police have recovered a loaded 9mm semiautomatic handgun with a laser, which was reported stolen.
- Outlaw said yesterday that police believe Siderio shot the bullet that hit the police car.
- The three other officers involved in the fatal shooting have been placed on administrative duty.
What’s next: A viewing for Siderio, who was in seventh grade at Sharswood Elementary, will be held Wednesday and Thursday at Lighthouse Baptist Church.
- A burial will take place at Fernwood Cemetery on Thursday.
What to watch: The Philadelphia Police Department and District Attorney’s Office are conducting dual investigations into the fatal shooting.
- District Attorney Larry Krasner has yet to determine whether to file criminal charges against the officer.
- “The death of a child is always a tragedy, and in this instance, a factually complex and deeply troubling one based on preliminary investigative information,” Krasner said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 hasn’t commented on whether it would support the soon-to-be fired officer, a union spokesperson told Axios.
Meanwhile, police are reviewing policies, training, tactics and more following the fatal shooting, Outlaw said.
Here’s our post from earlier about how Minneapolis messed up its response to the initial riots that accompanied the mass uprising over the murder of Black resident George Floyd there by a white police officer in 2020.
A federal judge in New York has dismissed civil claims against Republican Alabama congressman Mo Brooks alleging he helped incite supporters of former president Donald Trump’s to attack the US Capitol in January 2021, noting that Brooks’ speech to the crowd immediately prior to the insurrection was constitutionally protected free speech.
The ruling by US district court judge Amit Mehta represents a setback for House Democrats, including California congressman Eric Swalwell, who last year filed the lawsuit against Trump and his allies alleging they encouraged the crowd to storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021, as Congress met to formally certify Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump.
Reuters further reports:
Mehta in February had dismissed claims against several of Brooks’ co-defendants, including former Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani and Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
But in that ruling, Mehta said he would allow the plaintiffs to continue to pursue their claims against the former president.
Trump, he determined, was not immune from the three lawsuits filed by Democratic members of Congress and two police officers over his actions on that January 6, because his fiery speech to supporters was not within the scope of his official presidential duties.
Trump, shortly before riots, repeated to the crowd of supporters his false claim that the 2020 election had been stolen from him through widespread voting fraud, telling them to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell” to “stop the steal.”
Trump was subsequently impeached for an historic second time, charged with inciting the insurrection, but was acquitted by the US Senate.
Throwback:
Here’s a heart-stopper. A plane carrying former president Donald Trump made an emergency landing in New Orleans on Saturday evening after experiencing engine failure over the Gulf of Mexico, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday.
The wire service writes:
The plane, a Dassault Falcon 900, had gone about 75 miles from a New Orleans airport before turning back to the city, the person said. Other passengers included Secret Service agents, support staff and some of Trump’s advisers.
A Trump representative did not immediately return a request for comment on the incident.
The plane was returning Trump to his home in Palm Beach, Florida, from a New Orleans hotel where he was speaking to Republican Party donors at a private event, the person said.
The plane belonged to a donor who loaned it to the former president for the evening, the source said, and Trump advisers secured another donor’s plane to take him back to Florida.
The incident was first reported today by Politico. Trump was returning from that Republican shindig where he joshed that the US should put Chinese flags on the side of American fighter jets and bomb the shit out of Russia.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reversed a Trump Administration attempt to stop California from setting stricter motor vehicle pollution standards.
"Today the Biden Administration & @EPA took a major step to fight #AirPollution in communities, empower states, and tackle the #climatecrisis. #California will be allowed to establish auto emissions rules again!" -Regional Administrator Martha Guzman https://t.co/McETqb8PMp
— EPA - Pacific Southwest (@EPAregion9) March 9, 2022
The move, announced today, ends a years-long battle between the state and the federal government that caused uncertainty in the auto industry, and enables California – which has the largest car market in the US - to push vehicle manufacturers a greener direction, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Manufactures had looked to California’s emissions standards for guidance, which had been higher than the federal government’s since the state was granted a waiver under the Clean Air Act, attempting to limit the messiness of making cars for different standards set across the country. More than a dozen states also follow California’s lead when it comes to curbing tailpipe emissions, collectively representing more than 40% of the automobile market.
But the market was thrown when, in 2019, Trump oversaw the easing of regulations and barred California from controlling its own. At the time, officials claimed it would provide more market certainty and pave the way for cheaper and safer cars, but today leaders at the EPA said the decision was made in error.
“Our partnership with states to confront the climate crisis has never been more important,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “With today’s action, we reinstate an approach that for years has helped advance clean technologies and cut air pollution for people not just in California, but for the U.S. as a whole.” California will also now be able to move forward with a plan requiring all new cars sold in the state to be electric by 2035.
Conservatives have pushed back against the reversal and 16 Republican state attorneys general have called California’s allowance to go beyond federal standards unconstitutional.
More from the LA Times:
The EPA’s Regan said the agency will team with CARB and the other states allied with California.
“It’s not only vital to California, but to the entire country,” he said. “We will work very closely with the State of California, with automakers, with the union, and the environmental stakeholders to make sure all of us are rolling together toward a clean vehicle future.”
Regan said he hopes the issue won’t land back in court, but the EPA is ready to defend itself if it does. “We took our time” justifying the decision, he said. “It’s legally complicated, and we wanted to get it right. We’re prepared for whatever comes our way.” Same for California, Sanchez said. “The legal team will do whatever’s necessary to defend our position.”
Attorneys present opening statements in trial over plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Prosecutors and defense attorneys presented their opening statements on Wednesday in the federal trial of four men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 over restrictions she had imposed to control the pandemic.
Adam Fox, Brandon Caserta, Barry Croft Jr and Daniel Harris are charged with conspiracy to kidnap the Democratic governor from her vacation home. If convicted by a 12-person jury seated on Tuesday, they face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
All the defendants except Caserta are also charged with knowingly conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property.
In their opening statement in a Grand Rapids, Michigan, courtroom, prosecutors told the jury they would offer evidence that would prove the men planned to break into Whitmer’s home, hog-tie her and take her away at gunpoint.
“To accomplish that, they would shoot, blow up and kill anybody who got in their way, in their own words, creating a war zone here in Michigan,” US Attorney Jonathan Roth said. Fox’s attorney Christopher Gibbons said during his opening statement that his client and the other men engaged in just talk. “There was no plan. There was no agreement. There was no conspiracy to kidnap the governor of Michigan or any other governor,” he said.
Prosecutors are expected to rely on the testimony of two witnesses, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks. Indicted along with the four defendants by a grand jury in December 2020, both struck plea deals with prosecutors and agreed to testify against the defendants. Garbin is currently serving a six-year sentence, while Franks is awaiting sentencing.
Hate groups continue to decline as extremist ideas grow in mainstream
The number of hate groups across the US declined for the third consecutive year in 2021, according to an annual report released Wednesday by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The SPLC identified 733 active hate groups last year, down from the 838 identified in 2020 and 940 in 2019. In 2018, the number of hate groups nationwide was at its highest, peaking at 1,021.
The center also found that the number of anti-government groups declined from 566 in 2020 to 488 in 2021. In 2019, the group identified 576 anti-government groups. In 2012, the number of anti-government groups were at a record-breaking high of 1,360.
“Rather than demonstrating a decline in the power of the far right, the dropping numbers of organized hate and anti-government groups suggest that the extremist ideas that mobilize them now operate more openly in the political mainstream,” said the SPLC report.
In addition to calling upon elected leaders to embrace democratic institutions, the center urged for increased funding of radicalization prevention programs and more protection surrounding the right to vote for communities of color and other marginalized communities.
Updated
Biden signs cryptocurrency order to examine risks as popularity rises
Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order on government oversight of cryptocurrency that urges the Federal Reserve to explore whether the central bank should jump in and create its own digital currency.
The Biden administration views the explosive popularity of cryptocurrency as an opportunity to examine the risks and benefits of digital assets, the Associated Press reports, citing a senior administration official.
The action comes as lawmakers and administration officials are increasingly voicing concern that Russia may be using cryptocurrency to avoid the impact of sanctions imposed on its banks, oligarchs and oil industry due to the invasion of Ukraine.
Last week, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Mark Warner, and Jack Reed asked the treasury department to provide information on how it intends to inhibit cryptocurrency use for sanctions evasion.
Katherine Dowling, general counsel for Bitwise Asset Management, a cryptocurrency asset management firm, said an executive order that provides more legal clarity on government oversight would be “a long term positive for crypto”.
But Hilary Allen, a financial regulation professor at American University, cautioned against moving too fast to embrace cryptocurrencies. “As crypto becomes more integrated into our financial system it creates vulnerabilities not just to those who are investing in crypto but for everybody who participates in our economy.”
The White House is not opposed to Nato-member Poland donating some of its used fighter-jets to Ukraine, press secretary Jen Psaki said.
But Psaki has spelt out that the US is not eager to have that happen in the way suggested by Poland yesterday, whereby it would donate the jets to the US and the US would supply them to Ukraine from its massive US-Nato air base in south-western Germany.
Psaki is backing up secretary of state Antony Blinken in a press conference at the state department earlier. Both point out that the logistics are complex but, crucially, it risks the US being drawn in to direct military conflict with Russia.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki just warned that the latest official inflation figures, due out tomorrow, are expected to be high, particularly driven by what she called the “energy crisis” fueled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Yesterday, Joe Biden announced a US ban on Russian oil and gas, in an effort to punish Vladimir Putin. Petroleum prices at the pumps were already rising prior to the invasion of Ukraine two weeks ago, and are now rising steeply from there.
But meanwhile, Democratic Senator and former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, has this in mind:
Big Oil’s first priority is to maximize profits.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) March 9, 2022
It’s also their second priority, third priority, and on and on.
We can’t let them use Putin’s invasion as an excuse to pad their bottom line with war-fueled profits. So I’m working with Senate Democrats on a windfall profits tax.
Interim summary
White House press secretary Jen Psaki is due to hold her daily media briefing shortly. It’s been a busy morning dominated by US-Ukraine news, which we’ve been following and will continue to follow, as well as US domestic politics news. But if you want more in-depth, global live coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, do tune into our round-the-clock Ukraine crisis blog here.
Here’s where things stand in US politics news so far:
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken just said that he believes that no matter Russia’s military might and any battle victories, that ultimately the superpower and its authoritarian leader Vladimir Putin will suffer “strategic defeat” in Ukraine.
- Donald Trump “admired” Vladimir Putin’s ability to kill anyone he wanted, according to his former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, but was also scared of him.
- There are ‘terrible implications’ for European and global security if Putin is not stopped, British foreign secretary Liz Truss said moments ago at a press conference in Washington, DC.
- Minneapolis failed to follow emergency protocols during protests and riots there in 2020 after the murder of Black resident George Floyd by a white police officer, according to an official report commissioned by the city.
- US vice president Kamala Harris is in the air on her way to Poland and Romania in a high-profile trip to talk to those Nato allies’ leaders amid the intensifying war of Russian aggression in neighboring Ukraine.
Trump admired Putin's brutality but was also scared of him - ex-press sec
Donald Trump “admired” Vladimir Putin’s ability to kill anyone he wanted, according to his former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
In an interview with The View on Tuesday, Grisham discussed the former US president’s relationship with the Russian president, saying: “I think [Trump] feared [Putin]. I think he was afraid of him. I think that the man intimidated him. Because Putin is a scary man, just frankly, I think he was afraid of him.”
She went on to add: “I also think he admired him greatly. I think he wanted to be able to kill whoever spoke out against him. So I think it was a lot of that. In my experience with him, he loved the dictators, he loved the people who could kill anyone, including the press.”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has resulted in more than 1,300 civilian casualties, including 474 killed and 861 injured, Trump has highly praised Putin for his actions, calling him a “genius”.
In an interview last month with a conservative radio show, Trump fawned over Putin, saying: “I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of … Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent. Oh that’s wonderful. So Putin is now saying, ‘It’s independent,’ a large section of Ukraine. I said, ‘How smart is that?’ And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s the strongest peace force. We could use that on our southern border.”
Trump continued, saying: “There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right. No, but think of it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy, I know him very well. Very, very well.”
Trump’s comments were criticized by the two Republicans serving on the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot, who are among the few Republicans who have been critical of the former president. Liz Cheney tweeted that Trump’s statement “aids our enemies. Trump’s interests don’t seem to align with the interests of the United States of America.”
The debacle between Nato allies the US and Poland over the prospect of somehow supplying Ukraine with second-hand, Russian-built fighter jets - without drawing Nato into a war with Russia - is no more resolved now than it was yesterday, as a result of the Blinken-Truss meeting and press conference in Washington moments ago.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said of the idea put forward by Poland yesterday: “Departing from a US Nato base in Germany to fly into airspace contested with Russia over Ukraine raises some serious concerns for the entire Nato alliance. So we have to work through the specifics of these things going forward. It’s simply not clear to us that there’s a substantive rationale for doing it in the way that was put forward yesterday.”
The idea isn’t officially dead but it’s hardly thriving at this point. Blinken, at a press conference with British foreign secretary Liz Truss, further remarked: “I think what we’re seeing is that Poland’s proposal shows that there are some complexities that the issue presents when it comes to providing security assistance. We have to make sure that we’re doing it in the right way.”
At the moment, the talk is of helping Ukraine with anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons and not a western-imposed no-fly zone over Ukraine or fleets of Polish MiGs and Sukhois for Ukrainian military pilots to fly up against Russia’s devastating air attacks.
Blinken: 'Putin will fail and Russia will suffer strategic defeat' in Ukraine
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken just said that he believes that no matter Russia’s military might and any battle victories, that ultimately the superpower and its authoritarian leader Vladimir Putin will suffer “strategic defeat” in Ukraine.
“I’m convinced that Putin will fail and Russia will suffer strategic defeat” in Ukraine, he said, at an ongoing press conference with Britain’s foreign secretary Liz Truss, in Washington DC.
Sec Blinken says Putin has a clear plan to brutalize Ukraine, “But to what end?” He says it is clear from the Ukrainian people that they will never accept some kind of a “puppet regime.”
— Kylie Atwood (@kylieatwood) March 9, 2022
He signaled, however, that that does not mean Ukraine is going to win this military conflict, as the attacks on Ukrainian cities continue and Russia gathers its forces for whatever is the next stage of its offensive.
“You can take a country but you cannot take the hearts and minds of its people,” Blinken said, with an ominous message wrapped up in a defiant top line.
Observers are contemplating the longer term prospect of Russia defeating the Ukrainian military and leadership and imposing a Russian-backed puppet regime to run an essentially-occupied Ukraine.
Blinken said that Putin “has a clear plan to brutalize Ukraine, but to what end? He is now turning to a strategy of laying waste” to Ukrainian cities.
He warned that if even if Putin succeeds in installing a puppet regime in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Ukrainians will not acquiesce.
“I think it’s pretty evident that they will never accept that,” he said.
Updated
'Terrible implications' for global security if Putin not stopped - British foreign secretary
US secretary of state Antony Blinken and British foreign secretary Liz Truss are holding a press conference in Washington.
Prior to taking questions, Blinken spoke of strong unity between the US and the UK over their approach to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He said scenes of Ukrainians sheltering in underground facilities, such as transportation stations, from Russian shelling is reminiscent of Germany bombing London during the “blitz” of World War 2.
Truss said: “We have surprised Putin with our unity and our sanctions” and the Ukrainians have surprised the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, with their “determination and leadership”.
She echoed previous statements in parliament from British prime minister Boris Johnson in saying: “Putin must fail”.
And Truss continued: “If he is not stopped in Ukraine there will be terrible implications for European and global security and it would send the message that sovereign nations can simply be trampled on.”
Putin's invasion of Ukraine is "causing immense pain and suffering yet he is not making the progress he planned", says foreign sec @trussliz, adding that the 'brave' Ukrainian people have surprised him with their "determination and their leadership".https://t.co/X3flQUBL0r pic.twitter.com/IDQaiPhx6J
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 9, 2022
Updated
Minneapolis failed to follow emergency protocols during protests, riots in 2020 – official report
Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey failed to implement the city’s emergency protocols when responding to protests and riots that erupted across Minneapolis after Black resident George Floyd’s horrific, prolonged murder by a white police officer, according to a long-anticipated report.
The 86-page report by Maryland-based risk management firm Hillard Heintze, whose research staff includes former law enforcement officers, details a breakdown in communications and planning that left residents feeling abandoned and city employees — including police — confused about who was in charge, the Star Tribune reports.
Former officer Derek Chauvin was convicted last year of murdering Floyd in May, 2020, and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison. He later pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes.
Three former, more junior officers, who also played a part in the killing of Floyd were found guilty last month of federal civil rights crimes. Their state trial in which they are accused of aiding and abetting Floyd’s murder is ahead.
Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, called the verdicts “accountability”, but added: “There can never be justice because I can never get George back.”
Minneapolis, and its twin city and Minnesota state capital St Paul, erupted in protest after Floyd was killed, which turned into a massive civil rights uprising across the US and internationally. It was deemed the biggest uprising in the US since the civil rights movement of the 1960s and represented a massive revival of the Black Lives Matter movement against racist police brutality and embedded racism in America’s systems and society.
But protests in the spring of 2020 in Minneapolis turned into riots at the fringes and chaos and violence was thrust upon neighborhoods. Now an official report is out.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:
The report paints a damning picture of the 10 days in May 2020 that continue to traumatize many residents and employees nearly two years later: Some first responders, receiving little guidance from supervisors, traveled blindly into dangerous situations. Police made inconsistent decisions about when to use controversial munitions on crowds. Neighbors and business owners, frustrated by a lack of communication from city leaders, banded together to protect their homes and businesses.
Minneapolis has an emergency operations plan that is “well written, comprehensive and consistent with nationally recognized practices,” the report said. But, it said, the mayor did not “ensure the appropriate implementation” of that plan, hampering the city’s response.
“Even though the level of protest and violence was unprecedented, better planning, organization, communication and adherence to command-and-control principles by the MPD [Minneapolis Police Department] and city officials would have led to a better response,” the report said.
Frey said in a statement Tuesday night that he has asked city staff to create a plan for implementing the report’s roughly two dozen recommendations. The report suggests a range of changes aimed at strengthening and practicing emergency protocols proactively, improving communications among city employees, boosting police training on controversial crowd control tactics and improving employees’ wellness programs.
You can read the rest of that report here.
A look back to Floyd’s funeral:
Updated
At the US state department, we are awaiting a press conference between US secretary of state Antony Blinken and his UK counterpart, British foreign secretary Liz Truss.
There is a live feed at the top of this blog, where we see a podium for each diplomat set up in front of the stars and stripes and the union jack as they prepare to emerge from the meeting they’ve been holding for the last hour-plus.
Friendly reminder: if you prefer our round-the-clock, global Ukraine crisis live blog with all the details we can glean about what is going on in this horrible war, following the invasion by Russia, please click here.
This blog is committed to bringing you more of the US-facing news involving Ukraine, as well as US domestic news.
Clash between Poland and US over MiG-29s reveals tensions in escalating war.
That’s the Guardian’s headline on this analysis piece from our diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour, which notes that the public spat over fighter planes begged for by Ukraine is a setback in Nato unity.
And the upshot of this mini-debacle is that Russia retains air superiority.
Patrick writes: The buck-passing between Poland and the US over the possible use of elderly MiG-29s to hit Russian forces inside Ukraine is one of the west’s few diplomatic failures of the past month. It also raises questions about how far European countries are prepared to escalate militarily before they believe they will touch a dangerous Russian tripwire.
The US and Europe have worked hard to keep their differences over sanctions and oil embargos to a public minimum, and tried to accommodate each other’s national interests. So it was striking on Tuesday when first the Pentagon described a Polish offer to send planes to the US airbase in Ramstein as “untenable”, and then the deputy US secretary of state said the US had not been consulted about the plan.
Part of the problem was that the Polish proposal was subtly but critically different to a scheme that had previously been discussed in private. Against the backdrop of highly charged diplomatic tensions, presentation matters.
In essence, Poland said it would cooperate in strengthening the Ukrainian air force so long as this would be seen in Moscow as a US, Nato or EU scheme but not a Polish one.
In its original, US-conceived iteration, the proposal was a trilateral deal whereby Poland would hand over the MiGs to Ukrainian pilots to fly into their homeland, and the US would then provide some substitute planes. Boris Johnson, an enthusiast, described the plan as “rent a MiG”.
That proposal, arguably, was not qualitatively different to Nato members providing Ukraine with Javelin anti-tank missiles. In return, Poland would eventually fill the hole in its air force with 28 F-16s being provided by the US.
But under private pressure from the US, Poland felt the plan unduly exposed its citizens to Putin’s ire.
So instead, in a game of diplomatic pass the parcel, Poland tweaked the proposals so the planes would be sent free of charge to the US airbase in Ramstein, Germany, rather than being flown out of Poland into Ukraine. The move would literally take Poland out of the line of Russia’s fire since the plan could be labelled as that of the US, Nato or the EU.
Poland also suggested other frontline Nato countries with MiG planes should match its plan, a proposal directed at Slovakia and Romania. If executed it would mean Ukraine had 70 extra planes at its disposal.
The Pentagon’s response – “it is simply not clear to us that there is a tangible justification for this” – was swift. Passing the parcel back, it said any decision to hand over planes ultimately rested with the Polish government, although it did not kill off the proposal altogether. The rest of the piece is here.
Kamala Harris’s trip to eastern Europe today is a crucial test for the vice president, her first visit to the continent after a sticky first year in the role held by Joe Biden for two terms as Barack Obama’s right-hand man.
Harris, formerly a Democratic US Senator and the attorney general of California, has been very much in the spotlight since being chosen by Biden to be his veep and becoming the first woman and first American of color in that vital but fraught political role.
Unfortunately for Harris, this planned trip suddenly became a lot more tricky in the last three days after talk at the weekend that Poland would give second-hand fighter jets to the Ukrainian military (whose pilots are trained on such Russian-built models such as MiG and Sukhoi) and Poland’s supplies could be “back-filled” by the US with some of its fighter jets.
But that idea descended into a debacle yesterday, of which more in a moment. So Harris was flying into an already-tense scenario, with the war in Ukraine on Nato-member Poland’s eastern flank ever intensifying, but one that could also be a good opportunity for her to acquire statesmanlike kudos.
Now she’ll be landing later today in the middle of a massive diplomatic mess. Among Harris’s roles in the US, she is supposed to be steering voting rights legislation to fruition - which has stalled in the Senate and produced almost unlimited frustration from many of the Biden-Harris administration’s most important voters.
And she is charged with dealing with aspects of the US-Mexico border - specifically with the root causes of migration that drive economic, political, domestic violence, gang violence and climate migrants to seek refuge and opportunity in the US. But border policies are a horrible mess, she tends to take heat and often does not help herself by coming across as defensive when asked questions about tricky topics.
Here is the latest Guardian US special report on the border from our Nina Lakhani.
Blinken, Truss meet in Washington
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is back in the US after being in Poland and Moldova at the weekend, where he saw the streams of refugees coming across the border from the war to the east, and he stepped onto Ukrainian soil briefly with Ukraine’s foreign minister.
He was in Paris yesterday but right now, Blinken is meeting in Washington with his UK counterpart, British foreign secretary Liz Truss.
The two are expected to hold a press conference about 45 minutes from now (11.15am ET/4.15pm GMT) at the State Department.
They are primarily talking about what more can be done to assist Ukraine (without risking a Russia-Nato war) and how Britain, Europe and the west can reduce their dependency on the Russian energy sector, especially in the short term.
The US and the UK have announced the suspension of imports of Russian oil and gas.
“The Ukraine crisis is a wake-up call for free democracies,” Truss said in a statement.
“I am in the US to talk about what more we can do to deter hostile state actors, reduce strategic dependency on Russian energy - and authoritarian states more broadly - and build stronger economic and security alliances around the world.”
Truss will also meet with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Updated
Vice president Harris took off from the US this morning in Air Force Two en route to Poland. She is on a trip to the capital, Warsaw, and then on to the Romanian capital, Bucharest, to meet with allied leaders and discuss the war in Ukraine.
“This trip to the eastern flank [of Nato members] is further support to our allies and is also an extremely important opportunity to collaborate with them on next steps in responding to Russian aggression,” a senior administration official said Tuesday night.
The official said Harris will meet Thursday with the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, and the country’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, in Warsaw. Harris will also sit down with the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudueau, who will be in Poland at the same time.
In Bucharest, Harris will meet with the Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis, as well as embassy staffers.
In addition to her meetings with allied leaders, Harris will have “an opportunity to engage with people who have fled the violence in Ukraine” while in Warsaw, the official said.
More than two million people have now fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, and many of those refugees have escaped to neighboring countries in eastern Europe.
Polish officials have said that more than 100,000 people from Ukraine are arriving in their country each day.
Harris’s trip was planned before the confusion unfolded over whether and how Poland would supply fighter jets to Ukraine.
VP Harris flies into middle of Nato debacle over providing fighter jets to Ukraine
Kamala Harris’ trip to eastern Europe comes as the US and Poland have publicly clashed over how to handle the transfer of fighter jets to Ukrainian forces.
Poland’s foreign minister announced Tuesday that the country was “ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their Russian-made MiG-29 jets to the [US] Ramstein air base and place them at the disposal of the government of the United States of America”.
It was originally expected that the US would receive the planes and then donate them to Ukraine, but the Pentagon released a statement hours after Poland’s announcement saying that was not a feasible plan.
“The prospect of fighter jets ‘at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America’ departing from a US/Nato base in Germany to fly into airspace that is contested with Russia over Ukraine raises serious concerns for the entire Nato alliance,” said John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary.
“We will continue to consult with Poland and our other Nato allies about this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents, but we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one.”
A senior administration official said Tuesday night that the White House has been in consistent communication with the Polish government about how to best provide security assistance to Ukraine.
“That’s a dialogue that absolutely will continue up to and as part of the vice-president’s trip,” the official said. “This is a key priority for us and for all of our Nato allies, and so we expect that we will continue talking about how to achieve this really important objective.”
Ramstein air base in south-western Germany is headquarters for the US air forces in Europe and Nato allied air command.
Updated
Harris flies to Poland amid confusion over foreign fighter jets for Ukraine
Good morning to the readers of our US politics live blog. There’s a busy day ahead and we’ll have all the developments in American politics news here, including much related to Ukraine, while the Guardian’s global, round-the-clock blogging of the Russian invasion of Ukraine can be read separately here.
Here’s what’s happening so far today:
- US vice-president Kamala Harris is on her way to Poland right now, on a high-profile trip amid the war in Ukraine. She will visit Warsaw and also Bucharest, Romania, to meet with allied leaders and discuss the crisis, including the issue of Poland’s suggestions that it supply the Ukrainian military with second-hand, Russian-designed fighter jets – but via the US, which has raised fears once again about the US being drawn into what could be interpreted in Moscow as military action with Russia.
- The US House of Representatives is considering a large spending bill that includes almost $14bn in emergency aid for Ukraine. It’s part of a $1.5tr spending bill finalized overnight, which the House will take up today.
- A report finds that the authorities in Minneapolis failed to respond correctly to the mass protests, with rioting involved, that erupted in the Minnesota city in late spring 2020 after a white police officer murdered Black resident George Floyd.
- Donald Trump was scared of Vladimir Putin but nevertheless admired the Russian autocratic president’s capacity to kill whomever he wanted, according to former White House press sec during the Republican president’s single term, Stephanie Grisham.
