Free Republic

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., claimed this week that helping Ukraine fight off Russia is a “top priority” for both Democrats and Republicans.“I think we all agree the most important thing going on in the world right now is the war in Ukraine,” McConnell said after being asked about the House’s $40 billion aid package for Ukraine.McConell said he expects “substantial support” from his party for the package.“We’re going to try to process it as soon as possible,” he added.Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the No. 2 GOP leader in the Senate, agreed and predicted “a big vote over here”...

UnionPay is afraid to cooperate with a number of large Russian banks because of the risk of secondary sanctions, RBC learned. Sanctioned banks that issued such cards or planned to do so are forced to abandon projects Large Russian banks that have been under blocking sanctions from Western countries will not be able to issue UnionPay cards, as the payment system is afraid to cooperate with them because of the risk of secondary sanctions. RBC was told about this by five sources in large banks, including those that fell under sanctions. An interlocutor close to Sberbank said that the bank’s...