 President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview that if Ukraine does not get promised U.S. military aid blocked by disputes in Congress, its forces will have to retreat in small steps. If there is no U.S. support, it means that we have no air defense, no Patriot missiles, no jammers for electronic warfare, No. 155 mm artillery rounds, Zelensky told the Washington Post. It means we will go back, retreat, step by step, in small steps, he said. We are trying to find some way not to retreat. Shortages of munitions, he said, meant, you have to do with less. How? Of course, to go back. Make the front line shorter. If it breaks, the Russians could go to the big cities. In his interview, the Ukrainian president said Ukraine was making up for shortages of missiles with home-produced weaponry and air defense systems, but it is not enough. Much of Ukraine's east has been under Russian military control since Moscow launched its invasion more than two years ago. Last month, Kiev announced its withdrawal from Avdiivka, one of the most fiercely contested towns on its eastern front in recent months. While its strategic significance is limited, the loss of Avdiivka, taken together with Moscow's capture of the town of Bakhmut last year, indicates how the war appears to have turned in Russia's favor. Uncertainties linger over the U.S. aid bill, which may not look like the $95 billion package the Senate passed, with Republicans keener to see some kind of loan program, while Democrats may have reservations on any additional conditions the Republican may float for the package to pass. U.S. President Joe Biden has called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a butcher and explained how the U.S. could help protect Ukraine from him. He said this at a pre-election event in North Carolina. Biden spoke about the possibility of raising additional funds by increasing taxes for billionaires in the United States. He noted that if billionaires paid a 25% federal tax rate, it could generate $400 billion U.S. over the next 10 years. Imagine what we could do with that. We could do so many things, consequential, including finally making sure that we take care of Ukraine from that butcher Putin, Biden said. In February, Biden called Vladimir Putin a crazy son of a bitch during a fundraising event in San Francisco. The Kremlin called these words shameful. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that Americans should be ashamed of a leader who indulged in such comments. If the president of that nation uses that kind of language that is shameful, he said, adding that Biden may have been trying to emulate a Hollywood cowboy to appeal to domestic audiences. Additionally, Biden recently referred to Putin as a thug. Putin's awkward act showed his weakness, the economist. After the ISIS terrorist attack in Moscow, which became a colossal failure of the Russian intelligence services and a slap in the face to Putin, the head of the Kremlin cowardly disappeared and reappeared almost a day later with a false statement in which he tried to ridiculously concoct blame for Ukraine. However, such behavior is traditional for the Russian president, writes the British magazine The Economist. Putin is a man who likes victories, preferably staged, managed ones. It is noted that last year, when Yevgeny Prigoshin and his band of mercenaries made their way to Moscow, Putin was initially nowhere to be seen. The magazine writes, so if he took a full 19 hours to conjure up a short TV performance to speak about the massive intelligence failure at Croker City Hall in Moscow, he was falling into a familiar pattern. The address itself gave little away and appeared to serve as a hedge. Putin claimed ludicrously that Ukraine had opened a border window to the terrorists as they tried to escape Russia in their white Renault symbol. But the Russian president stopped short of directly attributing responsibility to Ukraine for the attack and said nothing about the Islamic State group that said it had carried it out. Part of Putin's reluctance to go all in on blaming Ukraine might reflect a worry that the American government is sitting on intelligence that could undermine such a claim. That might be embarrassment at his security agency's failure to act on American warnings on March 7th of an imminent attack. Indeed, just three days before the assault, Putin had brushed off that intelligence as blackmail. Such a hubristic blunder would have consequences in a country where power can be held to account. Russia is not such a country. The attack nevertheless represents a blow to the reputation of Putin and the security services on which he depends. The manner of the assault, in which at least 137 people lost their lives, will not soon be forgotten. There are many questions over the inept security at the Glitzy venue, which is in an entertainment park in Moscow's northwest suburbs. It is unclear why local police failed to respond quickly. A producer of a show held at Croker City Hall 10 days before the attack noted that 200 security guards were present that night.