Letters obtained by Guardian and AP contradict testimony that 2019 visit to Samoa had ‘nothing to do with vaccines’

Newly obtained documents indicate that the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, lied during two congressional hearings last year, when he told lawmakers who held the key to his confirmation that a 2019 visit to Samoa had “nothing to do with vaccines”.

Letters obtained by the Guardian and the Associated Press contradict that testimony. In one he wrote to the Samoan prime minister before the trip, Kennedy explicitly said he wanted to study the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in the Pacific island nation. In it, he used the words “vaccine” or “vaccination” eight times.

It’s about ‘kitchen-table populism’: focusing on Americans’ day-to-day economic struggles

This year’s Democratic primaries look and sound a lot more populist than usual. Brian Poindexter, a union iron worker running on a “workers first” message, won a House primary outside Cleveland. Sherrod Brown is mounting a Senate comeback in Ohio on the same “rigged system” message that has allowed him to outshine other Democrats in Ohio. Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger who built his career fighting corporate landowners, is the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine. And Josh Turek, a self-described “prairie populist”, is on the Senate ballot in Iowa.

In fact, according to research we’ve conducted through the Center for Working-Class Politics (CWCP), more than 70% of 2026 Democratic candidates now rely on populist rhetoric in their campaigns, laying the blame for our broken system on rich elites of one kind or another.

Ryan Mackenzie, running for re-election, is accused of ‘fabricating’ a career in the real estate industry

The Republican congressman Ryan Mackenzie has been accused of embellishing his résumé with private sector experience in real estate sales amid an acrimonious showdown over his Pennsylvania seat.

Mackenzie, who has previously been accused of lying about his age on Tinder, “was a real estate salesperson licensed in PA”, according to his LinkedIn profile, and biographies have consistently listed it has his former profession.

Jes Staley told US House committee he also was at one point named a trustee of convicted sex offender’s estate

Former JPMorgan Chase executive Jes Staley told US lawmakers he repeatedly shared confidential and market-sensitive bank ⁠information with Jeffrey Epstein and ⁠was at one ​point named as a trustee of his estate, according to a transcript released by the House oversight committee on Wednesday.

These admissions come as lawmakers investigate the late convicted ⁠sex offender’s ties with political and business elites. Staley appeared before the committee in July as part of its investigation into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his associate. Transcripts ⁠from the meeting were released on Wednesday.

Democrat Eric Hafner, to be released in 2036, also ran for seat in 2024, securing spot on that general election ballot

A man who is serving time in a federal prison in New York advanced on Wednesday from the primary for Alaska’s lone US House seat.

Eric Hafner, a registered Democrat, also ran for the seat in 2024 and secured a spot on the general election ballot that November despite a challenge brought by the Alaska Democratic party.

Then House candidate joined Democratic Socialists of America in 2018 but didn’t renew membership after a year

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has rejoined the Democratic Socialists of America after not renewing her membership for seven years, amid speculation that she might run for president in 2028.

The 36-year-old New York representative and one of the country’s most prominent democratic socialists renewed her membership in the group’s national organization after reports emerged earlier this month that it had lapsed. Ocasio-Cortez initially joined the group in 2018.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Wesley Bell to join as Jared Moskowitz becomes ranking member on sub-committee

Three pro-Israel Democrats have been given key roles on a powerful congressional body overseeing US foreign policy in a move rounding sharply counter to popular sentiment within the party and likely to anger leftwing activists.

The appointments to the US House of Representatives foreign affairs committee follow a succession of wins in party primaries for progressive candidates who put criticism of Israel and its actions in Gaza at the core of their campaign messages.

The incumbent senator Dan S Sullivan has condemned ex-school teacher Dan J Sullivan, claiming he is running at the behest of Democrats to confuse supporters

Dan S Sullivan, the Republican senator, will be joined on the November ballot in Alaska by a challenger with a nearly identical name from the same party, election officials confirmed on Tuesday, adding a twist to what is expected to be one of the most hotly contested races of the midterms.

The Republican senator is running for a third term against Democrat Mary Peltola, a former US House representative whom polls show is neck-and-neck with him in a state that hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate since 2008.

House minority leader is under attack from his own party for ‘affordability crisis’ meeting with president’s son-in-law

• Democrats incredulous over Hakeem Jeffries and Jared Kushner meeting

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Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the US House of Representatives, has defended his meeting with Jared Kushner and claimed it was arranged at the request of Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

Jeffries, who has come under attack from Democrats since the New York Times reported on Sunday that the two met privately to discuss common ground on issues like housing, immigration and the high cost of living, said he agreed to the meeting “to discuss the affordability crisis” in the US.

The Republican Senate candidate announced the plan with a graphic flagged as ‘Made with AI’

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Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the US Senate in Texas, has unveiled plans to tackle the “negative impact” of datacenters amid a growing backlash across the political spectrum.

Paxton, endorsed by Donald Trump but facing a close contest against Democrat James Talarico, posted a “Texas first” datacenter plan on X with a graphic that the social media network flagged as “Made with AI”.

Republican nominee to face Democrat Annie Andrews in midterm after rushed campaigns for Lindsey Graham’s seat

Reese Boyd, the chair of the Horry county Republican party marveled on Monday afternoon at how little time Senator Darline Graham and Representative Ralph Norman have had to campaign for the Senate primary: “This is not the normal way of things.”

“This is something that usually lasts at least, you know, the better part of a year,” he said. “People normally spend the better part of 18 months getting ready for it. Who knows? This may be the right way to do it? Who knows.”

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• US supreme court rules Trump can proceed with crackdown on mail-in voting

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Donald Trump has threatened to increase tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, auto parts and steel to 50% today, after trade negotiations between Washington and Ottowa broke down last week.

On Truth Social, the president blasted Canada, and said the new duties will go into effect on 1 January 2027.

Michigan Senate nominee and others have re-energized one-time Democratic voters who abandoned the party under Biden

Two years ago, Zainab Bibi Ahmed thought she had turned her back on the Democrats for good. Now, she is volunteering for the party’s US Senate nominee in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed.

Ahmed was one of 100,000 people to vote uncommitted in the February 2024 Democratic Michigan primary, in a bid to send a message to then US president Joe Biden about his support for Israel, as people watched what Amnesty International later called a “live-streamed genocide” in Gaza on their screens.

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• Pentagon fires publisher and editor of Stars & Stripes

• Backlash as navy carrier set to honor Black war hero could be named after Trump

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US Senator Tim Sheehy, a Montana Republican and a cattle rancher, has come out against a plan announced Friday by Donald Trump to allow for an increase in imported ground beef.

”I’ve advised President Trump against this course of action for a year because American ranchers have been struggling against the packer monopoly for decades, and this will further harm them - most of whom are MAGA Republicans,” Sheehy wrote on X. “The President’s heart is in the right place on wanting lower prices for the American people, and beef prices have been impacted by the Mexican screwworm. But the reality is this action will make it more difficult for American ranchers to rebuild our herd and bring prices down for the American people. And most importantly, this will harm our ranching families who feed the nation.”

Trump announced a plan on Truth Social to allow 300,000 metric tonnes of beef to be imported without tariffs over the next 90 days, to be sold for hamburger at a 25 percent discount to current prices. Trump offered this agreement with an unnamed source as measure to lower prices while “as we work to rebuild this herd and help our ranchers.”

The US beef cattle herd is near historic lows, and beef prices have skyrocketed over the last year. The average price of ground beef in American cities is around $7.12 a pound, an increase of 9.4 percent year-over-year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This is a slap in the face to every war hero and every service member who has worn the uniform. It’s beyond comprehension for a president to want his own name on a Navy ship while our armed forces are living in deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. For generations, millions of Black women and men have proudly served in the United States military, defending freedoms that too often were not even afforded to them, their families, or their communities. Donald Trump is making a mockery of that legacy by treating military service as another opportunity for personal branding. Our brave service members signed up to defend the nation, not the fragile ego of one man. America deserves better than this.

State senator beats rival Melissa Hernandez and will replace US congressman who quit amid sexual misconduct claims

Progressive Aisha Wahab has been elected to Congress in a special election following a bitter intra-party battle over the seat formerly held by Eric Swalwell, who resigned in April after facing sexual misconduct allegations. Swalwell has denied the allegations.

Wahab, a state senator, was widely considered the frontrunner in the district in California’s East Bay and had the backing of the state Democratic party as well as Our Revolution, labor unions, local officials and the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta.

Federal agents also ‘seized electronic devices’ from former Democratic representative at San Francisco airport

Authorities are said to have searched the Washington DC home of disgraced former California Democratic representative Eric Swalwell on Sunday amid an ongoing law enforcement investigation into sexual assault allegations.

CNN reported that federal agents on Saturday also “seized electronic devices” from Swalwell at the San Francisco airport, citing unnamed sources familiar with the investigation. Multiple other outlets have confirmed the federal search; the Daily Mail was the first to report this law enforcement activity.

Republican James Comer writes to private equity investor demanding full cooperation with investigation

The Republican chairman of the House oversight committee has threatened to hold the private equity investor Leon Black in contempt if he does not fully cooperate with the panel’s ongoing investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, amid accusations that the billionaire is purposely delaying and disrupting the panel’s inquiry.

A letter released by Representative James Comer’s office on Tuesday, which was addressed to Black’s lawyer, revealed new details about the high-stakes clash between the powerful Kentucky congressman and Black, the co-founder of Apollo Asset Management who was Epstein’s friend and former client and paid Epstein tens of millions of dollars in fees.

She made the statement during a debate when asked about potential threats to US national security in South China Sea

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Asked whether Taiwan and the South China Sea threaten US national security, Republican fill-in senator Darline Graham hesitated. “I’m just going to be honest here,” she told Tuesday night’s debate audience. “I’m – not that informed on national security, so – but I do support the military.”

Gasps, and boos, rolled through the opera house hosting the only debate before next week’s Republican runoff – a race to succeed her brother, Lindsey Graham, who was one of the Senate’s most committed rightwing foreign policy hawks before his sudden passing in July. She did not retreat.

Result tees up marquee race in US midterm elections, which could decide if Republicans or Democrats control Senate

Incumbent Dan S Sullivan, the US senator, advanced in Alaska’s non-partisan primary race for his seat on Tuesday alongside Mary Peltola, a former Democratic congresswoman.

With the top four candidates moving forward from Alaska’s open primaries to the general election, the Associated Press reported that Sullivan and Peltola had qualified for November’s general election.

Nixon bested Alexander Vindman to win Democratic nomination and now faces Republican Ashley Moody in November

• Trump-backed Byron Donalds wins Republican primary in race to succeed Florida governor DeSantis

In an upset for the Democratic establishment, progressive Angie Nixon won the party’s US Senate primary in Florida, beating former army intelligence officer Alexander Vindman.

Nixon, a state representative and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, had significantly less funding going into the primary – with $975,000 to Vindman’s $16.3m at the end of July, according to Florida Politics.

Potential presidential hopeful running for re-election in Georgia intensifies White House feud after remarks about ‘Natalie’ drew ire of president and allies

The Democratic senator Jon Ossoff called Donald Trump a “draft-dodging, crook president” while defending the senator Mark Kelly as a hero during a Tuesday campaign appearance in Georgia, escalating his public feud with the US president.

“I don’t think anything illustrates the times more aptly than that the draft-dodging, crook president, who has plunged our nation recklessly into a war he knows not how to end or to win, tried to imprison this man, who embodies American heroism,” Ossoff said while appearing alongside Kelly and his wife, the former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

The US plan to sell Türkiye F-35 stealth fighter jets has stalled, blocked by a Russian missile system Ankara bought years ago, Semafor reported. Lawmakers in Washington won't clear the deal while Türkiye keeps the hardware. The lone buyer in talks hasn't budged, and destroying the system is now on the table.

Russia has long used arms exports to pull buyers into its orbit, and the war it started raised the price of those ties—leaving governments that bought Russian air defense to clash with the supplier that sold it.

The Russian system is in the way

US sanctions law bars Türkiye from the F-35 program while it retains the Russian S-400, Semafor reported. That system is a long-range air defense, built to shoot down planes and missiles. Ankara already paid for six of the jets. They have sat in the United States since Washington expelled Türkiye from the F-35 program in 2019. US President Donald Trump announced plans to sell the jets more than a month ago, and nothing has moved since.

Explore further

Türkiye wants to send Ukraine old US-made cluster munitions—one human rights group is fighting to stop it

No buyer, no easy exit

One way out is to sell the S-400 to another country. Türkiye reportedly opened talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month, but they don't appear to have progressed. American lawmakers insist Ankara must give up the system entirely first.

Republican Senator Rick Scott told Semafor that Türkiye shouldn't get the jets unless it becomes a true partner—"so if they have the S-400, they cannot have the F-35." Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, a longtime opponent, said the process is "at a standstill."

Explore further

Erdoğan asks Putin to take back Russian S-400 SAM systems in move to win Trump’s favor

Israel and Congress are the live block

The sharper obstacle sits in Washington, Semafor reported. A vote to sell would pit Israel against a NATO ally, and many of Trump's own allies want the S-400 scrapped completely. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the jets could "destroy the power balance in the Middle East." The outlet said AIPAC, the leading pro-Israel lobby in Washington, is pressing Congress to keep the block.

Selling it still runs through Moscow

Any resale carries its own catch: Russia must approve the transfer of the S-400, giving the Kremlin a reason to block it. The only option that bypasses Moscow is to disable or destroy the system outright. Türkiye earlier tried to return the systems to Moscow, hoping to thaw relations with Washington. It didn't work.

The Trump administration says Ankara hasn't met all the conditions to buy the jets, and the State Department wants the S-400 issue settled with guarantees first.

Former VP sent fundraising appeal for Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign – with half of donations going to Harris’s organization

Alaska US Senate candidate Mary Peltola has rejected the support of Kamala Harris, her fellow Democrat, after the 2024 presidential candidate sent out a seemingly unsolicited fundraising appeal on Peltola’s behalf.

Harris, who lost Alaska – typically a Republican-voting state – by 13 points during her unsuccessful White House run, on Wednesday sent an email from her political organization to supporters of Peltola, a former US House member.

The progressive candidate won a Democratic congressional primary after boldly staking positions on voting rights, datacenters and the US war machine

• Justin Pearson and Brent Taylor win primaries for key Tennessee House seat

Justin Pearson made national headlines as one of the “Tennessee Three” – the state lawmakers expelled from the capitol protesting for gun control after a deadly school shooting. Three years later, the state representative won a Democratic congressional primary after boldly staking positions on some of America’s most contentious fault lines: voting rights, datacenters and the American war machine.

“Republicans are responding to elected officials who stand up to billion-dollar datacenters, and the billionaires who own them. Democrats are responding to a vision of Medicare for All, ending genocide,” said Pearson. “The confluence that is happening between those issues, is [that] who profits off of war are the same people who are profiting off of polluting our communities and stealing our drinking water for their datacenters that replace our jobs.”

Oliver Larkin, a 34-year-old DSA candidate, is running for Congress in a newly drawn district in Florida. On Tuesday, voters will decide between him and a ‘DeSantis Democrat’

Doors don’t get knocked on much in this stretch of south Florida, where yard signs for Republican and Democratic candidates alternate from home to home. Oliver Larkin, the 34-year-old democratic socialist running for Congress here, knows this.

With a clipboard in hand five weeks before the state’s primary, Larkin and two canvassing volunteers walked down palm tree-lined streets with single-family homes to pitch residents on his plan for a better way of life. Surprisingly, many wanted to chat with the strangers at their door.

Republican lawmakers express concern after US defense secretary repeatedly excluded Democrats from briefings

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Republican senators have criticized the Pentagon for locking Democrats out of classified briefings on defense spending, warning that Pete Hegseth’s approach could jeopardize passage of Donald Trump’s record $1.5tn military budget increase.

The US defense secretary has made at least two trips to Capitol Hill in recent weeks to pitch the budget, but has repeatedly excluded Democrats from the closed-door sessions, according to lawmakers from both parties.

The congresswoman’s decision is an assertion of women’s freedom and dignity at a time when our status is rapidly eroding

“Don’t be weird about this,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive star and rumored 2028 presidential contender, said on her live video broadcast as she raised her shirt to angle the syringe into her abdomen. Then, with resignation, “even though I know all of you will be.”

The New York Democrat is 36 years old, and this week she revealed that she is beginning the process of freezing her eggs during Congress’s August recess. In the video, Ocasio-Cortez said that she was seeking to destigmatize the realities of women’s lives as they navigate the conflicting demands of professional aspiration and family building; she explained to viewers the process of the hormonal injections she was administering to herself, showing them the drugs and injector she was using arrayed on a paper towel, beside a disinfecting towelette. The procedure, Ocasio-Cortez explained, was not covered by her insurance, and she would be paying “100% out of pocket”. She had been saving to afford it for some time. “This is a choice that I am making to feel more in control of my life,” she said, going on to assert her hope that transparency about such questions will destigmatize women’s reproductive lives and promote their dignity.

Human Rights Watch is asking the US Congress to block Türkiye from transferring tens of thousands of decades-old cluster munitions to Ukraine. The State Department had earlier told Congress it is prepared to authorize the deal, which Ukraine wants to strengthen its firepower against the Russian invasion. 

What Türkiye wants to send

Türkiye has requested US permission to retransfer to Ukraine tens of thousands of cluster munition rockets, missiles, and artillery shells held in its stockpiles for decades. The package covers Türkiye's entire inventory of 12 M270 rocket launchers and three types of cluster munitions: 70 M39 ATACMS ballistic missiles, 2,524 M26 rockets, and 47,000 M509A1 203mm artillery shells, according to the State Department transmittal sheets.

The deal is valued at $256 million. Together, the rounds hold more than 10 million explosive bomblets, Human Rights Watch said, produced in part by Türkiye under US licenses first issued in 1987. The US removed the M509A1 shells from service in 1994, when the howitzers that fired them retired, according to HRW.

Cluster munitions scatter small bomblets across a wide area, and some fail to explode on impact, leaving hazards that can maim civilians long after fighting ends.

Ukraine, for its part, gave Washington written assurances not to fire earlier US-supplied cluster rounds in civilian-populated urban areas, and US officials said Kyiv had kept to its use constraints.

Explore further

HRW’s allegations that Ukraine used banned mines are outrageous and play into Russia’s hands – human rights activists

What Washington says

A senior State Department official notified Congress that it is prepared to authorize the transfer, in documents printed in the Congressional Record on 6 August. Türkiye wants to shed older stock and focus its money on modern systems, the official said. Ukraine wants the munitions to bolster its fire support as it resists the invasion, the official added, noting that Ukraine already fields the same or nearly identical rounds. Congress can review the deal and pass a resolution of disapproval to block it.

Human Rights Watch argues the age and unreliability of the weapons make them a foreseeable hazard to civilians. Human Rights Watch deputy Washington director Nicole Widdersheim said the more-than-30-year-old munitions are inaccurate and prone to failure, and that their impact on civilians drove 112 countries to ban the weapon under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Explore further

Human Rights Watch published map of Ukraine without Crimea – UNIAN

The same group has documented Russia's cluster attacks since 2022

Human Rights Watch opposes the weapon for all sides and has tracked Russia's use of it throughout the war. It documented repeated Russian cluster strikes since 2022, called a Russian attack on Lyman a possible war crime, and logged further strikes on civilians in its World Report chapters on Ukraine.

In each case, the group called on Russia to stop firing the weapon. On the Türkiye deal, it is asking Congress for something more concrete — to kill the transfer before the munitions reach Ukraine.

Ukraine has agreed to buy a batch of American-made ballistic missiles and rocket launchers from Türkiye, according to Militarnyi. The weapons sit in Turkish stockpiles and still need to clear a routine US review before they ship.

Ukraine's deep strikes run on a scarce, politically gated supply of Western missiles, which it burns through faster than allies' resupply.

What Ukraine is buying

US government paperwork lists 70 M39 ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) missiles and 12 M270 rocket launchers, plus tens of thousands of cluster munitions. The M270 is a tracked launcher that fires guided rockets and ATACMS, the heavier sibling of the wheeled HIMARS.

The cluster load adds 2,524 M26 rockets for the M270 launchers and 47,000 M509A1 shells for Ukraine's 2S7 Pion and M110 guns. Both scatter bomblets over a wide area. The deal surfaced in US State Department notifications in the US Congressional Record for 6 August 2026. Türkiye wants to shed older weapons and fund newer systems, the filings say. The shipment moves through Turkish, Bulgarian, and American exporters.

How the sale clears Washington

Explore further

Frontline report: ATACMS returns to battlefield as Ukraine destroys Russian training facility in Voronezh

Because these are US-origin weapons, Washington must sign off first. The filings note that US law forces the State Department to notify Congress once major equipment tops $14 million, or other articles and services top $50 million. There is no approval vote: if neither chamber blocks the sale within 15 days, US consent takes effect automatically. Both chambers sit in recess past that deadline — the House until 31 August 2026, the Senate until 14 September 2026.

What the M39 ATACMS is

The M39 is the original production model of ATACMS, flying about 165 kilometers, or roughly 103 miles—shorter than later versions Ukraine has fired. It steers by laser gyroscopes with no GPS correction, which makes it less precise. Instead, it carries a 560-kilogram cluster warhead of 950 M74 submunitions built to hit troops, unarmored vehicles, and air defenses.

Explore further

Ukraine marks invasion anniversary with ATACMS strikes on Russian command and supply lines (MAP)

How Ukraine uses ATACMS

Ukraine has fired ATACMS at Russian command posts, ammunition depots, and air defenses across occupied land and inside Russia. Even occasional launches force Russia to shift air defenses back from the front, easing pressure on Ukrainian troops. That firepower had gone quiet. Ukraine ran through its US-supplied ATACMS months ago, and US approvals came slowly. Buying 70 more through Türkiye lets Ukraine rebuild without waiting on fresh US aid.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers are voicing their opposition to the Trump administration's decision to halt shipments of some air defense missiles and other weapons previously promised to Kyiv.

The U.S. Defense Department (DOD) made the decision to pause the aid deliveries after conducting a review of U.S. munitions stocks, reportedly concerned about dwindling levels of artillery rounds, air defense missiles, and precision munitions.

Among the items being held back from Ukraine are over two dozen Patriot air defense missiles, over two dozen Stinger air-defense systems, precision artillery rounds, Hellfire missiles, drones, and more than 90 AIM air-to-air missiles that Ukraine launches from F-16 fighter jets. The Washington Post reported that the weapons were already in Poland being prepped for delivery to Ukraine.

Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, the co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, lambasted the decision in a post on X.

Fitzpatrick, a staunch ally of Ukraine who has previously visited the front line, said he "will be aggressively looking into this matter and will be demanding accountability."

"We must build up our own Defense Industrial Base here in the U.S. while simultaneously providing the needed assistance to our allies who are defending their freedom from brutal invading dictators. To not do both is unacceptable," the Congressman added.

In a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump about the reported halt of air defense deliveries, Fitzpartick requested an emergency briefing from the White House and DOD on the shipments.

"Ukraine's courage must continue to be met with action, and the United States must continue to lead with clarity and purpose," Fitzpartick wrote.

Another Republican House member, Rep. Michael McCaul, said he is examining "very intensely" whether the Pentagon’s freeze breaches legislation on aid to Ukraine passed in 2024, Politico reported.

As Trump continues to call for a ceasefire from Moscow, McCaul said that the decision comes "at the wrong time."

"If you want to get (Russian President Vladimir Putin) to the negotiating table in good faith, you have to put leverage and pressure on him, and that would be (Senator) Lindsey Graham’s economic sanctions and the flow of weapons," McCaul said. "If you take the flow of weapons out, yeah, then you’re not, you don’t have the leverage over Putin to negotiate."

Other Republican members of Congress have thus far dismissed concerns over the reported halts, stating that they are waiting to be briefed with additional information before speaking about the reports.

On the other side of the isle, Democratic lawmakers have also lambasted the real world implications of halting military aid for Ukraine.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in an interview that more civilians are "going to lose more lives, more people will be maimed and injured — more homes, hospitals, schools will be destroyed," calling the decision, "fallacious and maybe even disingenuous."

Since his inauguration in January, Trump has not approved any additional military aid packages for Ukraine. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also announced recently that the U.S. will reduce the total aid it sends to Ukraine in its upcoming defense budget.

In his evening address on July 2, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian and U.S. officials are working through the aid issue at a "working level," including discussions on critical air defense support. Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak held a late night phone call with Rep. Brian Mast, Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry said it has not received any formal notification of delays or cancellations but has requested urgent consultations with U.S. defense officials.

The Foreign Ministry also summoned U.S. Charge d'Affaires John Ginkel, warning that "any hesitation" in military support would encourage further Russian aggression.

The Kremlin welcomed the decision, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying, "The fewer weapons that are supplied to Ukraine, the closer the end of the (war)."

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte expressed understanding of Washington's desire to safeguard its stockpiles but said, "Ukraine cannot do without all the support it can get."

Ukraine war latest: As Russia ramps up missile attacks, US halts promised air defense shipments to Ukraine

Key developments on July 2: * As Russia ramps up missile attacks, US halts promised air defense shipments to Ukraine * North Korea to send up to 30,000 more troops to aid Russia’s war against Ukraine, CNN reports * Ukraine denies another Russian claim of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast breakthrough, says small incursion repelled

The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced a resolution in Congress demanding the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, according to a press release published on June 30.

Kyiv estimates that Russia has abducted or forcibly displaced at least 19,500 Ukrainian children since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion of 2022, and has deported them to Russia, Belarus, or the occupied territories of Ukraine.

The resolution, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks and Michael McCaul, a Republican chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, condemns the abductions and calls for the repatriation of children even before a potential peace deal.

Senators Chuck Grassley (Republican) and Amy Klobuchar (Democrat) introduced the resolution in the Senate.

"These children have been stripped of their national identity, adopted into Russian families, or indoctrinated as soldiers for the Kremlin," McCaul said in a statement.

"Russia’s mass-scale child abduction is nothing short of evil; the United States must demonstrate moral leadership by demanding every child be returned to his or her family in Ukraine before true peace can be achieved."

The Trump administration has previously cut funding for a Yale University-based Ukraine Conflict Observatory tracking the abduction of Ukrainian children. Nathaniel Raymond, the executive director of the Humanitarian Research Lab overseeing the effort, has said the operation would cease on July 1 due to the lack of funds.

Since its launch in May 2022, the observatory has compiled evidence of Russian war crimes, including the deportation of Ukrainian children, many of whom were sent to reeducation camps or adopted by Russian families.

The database suggested that the actual number of abducted Ukrainian children could be higher than the figure provided by Ukraine's Children of War database, placing it as high as 30,000. Over 1,360 children have been brought back home.

According to the resolution newly introduced in Congress, "Russia's abduction and Russification of Ukrainian children demonstrates the intent of the Government of the Russian Federation to erase the Ukrainian nation and identity."

The document also says that Russia's invasion "has significantly increased the risks of children being exposed to human trafficking and exploitation, child labor, sexual violence, hunger, injury, trauma, deprivation of education and shelter, and death."

Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff, called the resolution "an important step in support of justice and peace."

The abductions have been widely denounced as war crimes and violations of international law. In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and children’s rights ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova over their roles in the deportation of Ukrainian minors.

Smashing previous monthly record, Russia launches 5,337 kamikaze drones against Ukraine during June

Russia launched a record 5,337 Shahed-type drones against Ukraine in June, according to data from the Ukrainian Air Force and Dragon Capital, smashing the previous record of 4,198 set in March. Russia’s bombardments, a fact of life after three years of full-scale war, have intensified dramatically in May

The Kyiv IndependentYuliia Taradiuk

Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink announced on June 18 that she is running for Congress from Michigan's 7th district, pledging to oppose U.S. President Donald Trump.

"I've dedicated my life to protecting democracy and fighting for freedom. It's why we stood up to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and why I spoke out against Trump," Brink wrote on X.

"My next mission: fighting for what's right here at home."

Brink resigned from her post on April 10, and in a May 16 op-ed in the Detroit Free Press, publicly confirmed her departure was driven by disagreement with the Trump administration's stance on Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.

"I just came home to Michigan from three years in the toughest job of my life," she wrote. "I could no longer in good faith carry out the administration's policy and felt it was my duty to step down."

Brink accused the Trump administration of pressuring Ukraine rather than holding Russia accountable, calling that approach "dangerous and immoral."

"I cannot stand by while a country is invaded, a democracy bombarded, and children killed with impunity," she wrote. "Peace at any price is not peace at all — it is appeasement."

Elections for the representative of Michigan's 7th district will take place in November 2026.

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Trump, who began his second term in January, pledged to end the war within 100 days. That deadline has passed with no deal. He has alternated between blaming both sides for the conflict and claiming a breakthrough is still possible.

Despite repeatedly expressing frustration with Putin, the U.S. president has continued to avoid placing additional sanctions on Moscow, even as the Kremlin refuses to agree to a ceasefire.

Brink's relationship with Ukraine's leadership frayed in April after the U.S. Embassy issued what was seen as a muted response to a deadly Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih that killed 20 civilians.

"Horrified that tonight a ballistic missile struck near a playground and restaurant in Kryvyi Rih," Brink posted on X following a Russian missile attack. "This is why the war must end."

President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the message.

"Unfortunately, the response from the U.S. Embassy is surprisingly disappointing — such a strong country, such a strong people, and yet such a weak reaction," he wrote on April 5.

Julie S. Davis, the new U.S. Charge d'Affaires to Ukraine, arrived in Kyiv on May 5.

Zelensky may reportedly skip NATO summit over uncertainty about Trump’s attendance

According to the Guardian, some in Kyiv are unsure if President Volodymyr Zelensky’s presence at the summit would be worthwhile without a confirmed meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir