Kyiv reacts to U.S. halting aid amid funding crisis; Ukraine ally sees pro-Russia populist win vote

There were more signs of vulnerability in Ukraine’s relationships with its international partners over the weekend, following a key vote in neighboring Slovakia and the United States’ halt on funding for Kyiv.

Ukraine was trying to be optimistic in the face of a potential U.S. government shutdown and 45-day pause on additional funding for Kyiv that was part of a stopgap bill agreed at the weekend.

Meanwhile, a pro-Russian, populist party has won the most votes in a parliamentary election in Slovakia, casting into doubt the country’s future support for ongoing military aid for Ukraine.

Slovakia’s Robert Fico — who served as the country’s prime minister between 2006 and 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018 — and his Smer-SD party beat his progressive rival in the vote Saturday, having campaigned on a manifesto to end continuing support for Slovakia’s neighbor Ukraine.

He also urged Russia and Ukraine to compromise to find a peace deal.

Given that Fico’s party did not win an outright majority, however, it will need to form a coalition to gain a mandate to govern. The parties that form the coalition with Smer could determine whether Ukraine can count on Slovakia’s continuing support.

Two people killed in Kherson shelling, Ukraine says
Two people were killed and 10 injured in the latest shelling of Ukraine’s Kherson region, according to Ukrainian officials.

Overnight and morning attacks hit shops, schools, a kindergarten and hospitals in the Beryslav district, Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on Telegram, as translated by Google Translate.

One of the people killed was a policeman who had tried to rescue a civilian and later died on the hospital operating table, Prokudin said.

CNBC could not independently verify the reports.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton
Zelenskyy: ‘Our common victory explicitly depends on our cooperation’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Europe’s common victory “explicitly depends” on cooperation.

“I am confident that Ukraine and the entire free world can prevail in this confrontation. But our victory explicitly depends on our cooperation,” Zelenskyy said in an EU-Ukraine Foreign Ministers’ meeting published on the Ukrainian presidency website.
“The more powerful and principled steps we take together, the sooner this war will end. End fairly. With the restoration of our territorial integrity and a reliable guarantee of peace for the whole of Europe.”

The speech comes as war fatigue appears to be growing among some of Ukraine’s allies, with a pause in U.S. funding for Ukraine and a pro-Russian candidate having won Slovakia’s general election over the weekend.
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https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/02/ukraine-war-live-updates-latest-news-on-russia-and-the-war-in-ukraine.html