Putin courts US as Ukraine outgunned

Vladimir Putin is seeking to leverage influence over Ukraine’s prime backer, the US. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. Volodymyr Zelenskiy is rebooting Ukraine’s military with the biggest shakeup since Russia’s invasion, just as Vladimir Putin is seeking to leverage influence over Kyiv’s prime backer, the US. President Zelenskiy’s long-anticipated [replacement of his top army commander](, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, takes place with Ukrainian troops on the back foot as delays in US and European military aid leave them outgunned on the battlefield. The new top general, Oleksandr Syrskyi, played a key role in the defense of Kyiv early in the war and in pushing Russian troops out of the northeastern Kharkiv region in September 2022. He’s tasked with prosecuting a bolder military strategy this year, after Zaluzhnyi drew the president’s ire by saying the war was at a stalemate. Syrskyi’s a more controversial figure among frontline troops after overseeing last year’s ultimately doomed defense of the city of Bakhmut amid heavy casualties. Putin’s [two-hour interview with US commentator Tucker Carlson]( published online yesterday focused heavily on the Kremlin leader’s obsessive view of Ukraine’s origins as historically Russian land. Carlson admitted later he’d been “shocked” by Putin’s explanation of the roots of his February 2022 invasion that went back to the ninth century. WATCH: Putin says his country has not achieved its objectives in Ukraine yet. Source: Tucker Carlson Network His first interview with a Western media figure since the war started was aimed at conservative supporters of Donald Trump that are Carlson’s core audience. The message was plain — halt US weapons supplies to enable a Russian victory and then “we’ll be able to discuss some terms.” Trump’s Republican allies in Congress continue to hold up more than $60 billion of US aid to Ukraine that the Biden administration says is desperately needed. The risk for Kyiv is that the Kremlin succeeds in widening a party-political divide over Ukraine’s continued defense in the US presidential election contest. Then it will hardly matter who Zelenskiy puts in charge of Ukraine’s military. —[Anthony Halpin]( Zelenskiy and Syrskyi in 2023. Source: The Presidential Office of Ukraine Global Must Reads Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip has been “over the top,” US President Joe Biden said [in an escalation of his criticism]( of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war against Hamas. His comments came after the Israeli leader previewed plans for ground forces to enter the city of Rafah. Many innocent people are “in trouble and dying. And it’s got to stop,” Biden said. For many Israelis, the defeat of Hamas is more vital than the release of hostages they are holding. As Ethan Bronner writes, while [Netanyahu’s commitment to “total victory”]( over the Iran-backed group links to his own political future — he relies heavily on pro-war, right-wing support — polls show 40% of Israeli Jews believe destroying Hamas, which carried out an Oct. 7 attack, must be the priority. A Palestinian boy following an Israeli airstrike in the Tel Al-Sultan district of Rafah in southern Gaza yesterday. Photographer: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg A disputed result in Pakistan’s election yesterday appeared likely with vote counting delays and [claims of victory]( by supporters of jailed former leader Imran Khan and three-time premier Nawaz Sharif. Early returns showed the parties of Sharif and the powerful Bhutto clan were neck-and-neck with the independent candidates, most of whom are backed by Khan’s party after it was effectively banned from contesting in the elections. Trump notched another victory, winning the Nevada caucuses and [closing in on]( the Republican nomination. It came on the same day as the Supreme Court appeared poised to keep him on this year’s presidential election ballot, as the [justices weighed a historic clash]( over Colorado efforts to disqualify him for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. President Javier Milei’s quest to overhaul Argentina’s economy and tame triple-digit inflation [has swerved off course](. Congress rejected his administration’s request for expanded executive powers — a key element of his plan — and he responded by hastily shelving the bill and then lashing out at those who voted against him, further straining his relations with the parties he needs to push through his agenda. Brazilian Police launched a sweeping operation that [ensnared former President Jair Bolsonaro]( and dozens of his allies who allegedly tried to overturn his defeat in the 2022 election. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he has the legal right to annihilate South Korea, in the latest move to [threaten his neighbor]( after starting the year by removing the concept of peaceful unification from his state’s national policy. A long-time loyalist of Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned civil society groups and the media that they [risked becoming targets]( of a new institution, the Sovereignty Protection Agency, tasked with rolling back foreign influence in Hungary. Washington Dispatch Both Democrats and Republicans today are trying to seize the narrative after a special counsel’s report on Biden’s possession of classified material described him as a [“well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”]( The special counsel, Robert Hur, didn’t bring charges, but found the president’s conduct to be improper. While Hur’s scathing conclusions were not welcomed by Biden’s team, the comments regarding his memory and age amplified — in an official document no less — the chief concern of voters about his ability to serve another four years in the White House. Three-quarters of voters, including half of Democrats, said in an NBC News poll released this week that they had concerns about his mental and physical health. Within hours of the Hur report’s release, the 81-year-old appeared at a hastily-arranged press conference to proclaim his exoneration and forcefully answered questions about his capacity to remain in office. Yet even as he defended himself, he mistakenly referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as the leader of Mexico. Allies of Trump, Biden’s likely Republican opponent in November, reiterated a claim of cognitive frailty. Trump, at 77, has also suffered from numerous mental lapses. One thing to watch today: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will meet with Biden in Washington, with assistance for Ukraine high on the agenda. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 5pm ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day Chinese investors and their creditors are putting up “For Sale” signs on real-estate holdings across the globe as the need to raise cash amid [a deepening property crisis]( at home trumps the risks of offloading into a falling market. The worldwide slump triggered by borrowing-cost hikes has wiped more than $1 trillion off office property values alone, Starwood Capital Group Chairman Barry Sternlicht said last week. And Finally Thousands of yellow three-wheeled rickshaws that are an essential means of transportation for millions of poor citizens in Abuja have come to symbolize the rise of urban slums in Nigeria’s modern capital. Authorities now want to ban the rickety tricycles — known as keke Napep — that they say play a key role in a [crime-and-kidnapping crisis]( that is engulfing the country’s second-richest city, threatening to put drivers out of work and leave commuters stranded. Keke Napeps at the Galadimawa roundabout park in Abuja on Feb. 3. Photographer: Dawali David/Bloomberg Pop quiz (no cheating!) In which country has a secretly recorded video purporting to show the First Lady being gifted a luxury Dior handbag eroded public support for the president before an election? 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