Harris to go to Munich, as U.S. says there are up to 7,000 more Russian troops at Ukraine border
CBSN
Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to the Munich Security Conference later this week, as the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine still looms, and U.S. officials say the Russian military presence at the border of Ukraine has increased by as many as 7,000 troops. Russia has claimed that it is pulling back troops because its military exercises have concluded.
On Saturday, Harris will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and also separately with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, according to senior administration officials. This will be the first engagement between Harris and Zelensky. The vice president is also going to be meeting with the Baltic state leaders of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
"We are in a very decisive moment," a senior administration official said on a call with reporters Wednesday night. "The vice president is leading the U.S. delegation to the Munich Security Conference this year as a resounding signal that engagement with our partners and allies is an absolutely critical part of our overall diplomacy and our approach to this situation."
An American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday night while coming in for a landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington. The Black Hawk helicopter was carrying a crew of three. Officials said early Thursday that everyone on board both aircraft is believed dead, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly a quarter century.