Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the situation in Ukraine on Wednesday morning. The call comes as Ukrainian and Russian negotiators discuss a de-escalation agreement that could see Russia draw down forces from the area near Kyiv.
Both the White House and the Pentagon have said that they believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misinformed about progress in the war by his senior advisers who are afraid to characterise it as a “strategic blunder”.
Mr Biden also gave a speech on the state of the Covid-19 pandemic in the US announcing the launch of a central website for Covid resources, before receiving his second booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine. The FDA has just given clearance for a second booster shot for all Americans over 50 and those classed as clinically extremely vulnerable to the virus.
Meanwhile, after contentious nomination hearings that saw Republican senators harangue her about critical race theory and her record sentencing sexual offenders who targeted children, Ketanji Brown Jackson has picked up a crucial supporter: Maine Senator Susan Collins, who has become the first Republican to announce she will vote to confirm Joe Biden’s first Supreme Court nominee.
The news all but guarantees Ms Jackson’s confirmation. She has already secured the support of West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin, who was thought to be the likeliest of his party’s 50 senators to withhold his support.
