Ukraine Recap: US Aid for Kyiv at Risk; Slovakian Election

Ukraine said five ships are heading to its Black Sea ports for loading, while three others have sailed with cargoes, as Kyiv seeks to overcome Russia’s blockade of its commodity exports that started two months ago when Moscow pulled out of a key grain deal.

US lawmakers omitted further aid to Ukraine in a measure passed Saturday in a successful last-ditch effort to avoid a federal government shutdown, signaling that US support for funding Kyiv’s fight against the Russian invasion is getting harder. In Slovakia, Robert Fico, a former prime minister who’s called for an end to military funding for Ukraine and derided EU sanctions against Russia, won Saturday’s election in a potential blow to Western unity. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was in Kyiv Sunday for a meeting with Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s recently-appointed defense minister, after spending Saturday in Odesa.