Biden unveils new military aid package and promises US will continue to arm Ukraine against Russia
President Joe Biden promoted the latest package of military aid to Ukraine and promised that the US “will continue to provide Ukraine with weapons and equipment to defend itself” against the Russian invasion.
The $ 700 million aid package, which includes an advanced rocket launch system known by the acronym HIMARS, “will provide timely and critical assistance to the Ukrainian military,” Biden said in a statement.
The statement came a day after The New York Times published an opinion piece written by Biden, who wrote that the United States did not want Ukraine to launch these rockets at Russia. “We are not encouraging or allowing Ukraine to go beyond its borders. We do not want to prolong the war just to inflict pain on Russia,” he wrote.
In a statement on Wednesday, Biden said the United States “will be with our Ukrainian partners and will continue to provide Ukraine with weapons and equipment to defend itself.”
“We will continue to lead the world in providing historic assistance to support Ukraine’s struggle for freedom,” he said.
– Kevin Breuninger
Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner to auction medal for benefit of Ukrainian refugee children
Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021 Dmitry Muratov delivers a speech at the award ceremony for World Press Freedom Day in Geneva on May 3, 2022.
Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images
A Russian journalist will auction off the 23-carat gold medal of the Nobel Peace Prize he won last fall for the benefit of war-torn refugee children in Ukraine.
Dmitry Muratov, who previously said he was donating about $ 500,000 in Nobel Prize money to other charities, told The New York Times that the sale of the medal is “an act of solidarity” with Ukrainian refugees.
Muratov, the editor of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, called Russia’s war against its neighbor “a mistake, and we must end it.”
Heritage Auctions, which is on sale June 20 in New York City, told The Times that it expects the auction to raise close to the $ 2.3 million record set in 2013 for a medal. Nobel, the Francis Crick Medical Prize for his role in co. – discover DNA.
The auction house will not charge any commission for the sale, the proceeds of which will go to UNICEF’s efforts to help Ukrainian children displaced by the invasion of Russia.
– Manganese teeth
Stuffed toys on empty school buses remind children killed in Russian invasion
Plush toys symbolizing each of the 243 Ukrainian children killed in the invasion of Russia sit on empty yellow school bus seats during an event commemorating International Children’s Day in Lviv.
Stuffed toys symbolizing each of the 243 murdered Ukrainian children sitting in the seats of an empty yellow school bus during an International Children’s Day commemoration in Lviv on June 1, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Yuriy Dyachyshyn | AFP | Getty Images
An overview shows empty yellow school buses displaying stuffed toys symbolizing each of the 243 Ukrainian children killed in their seats during an International Children’s Day commemoration in Lviv on June 1, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Russia. ‘Ukraine.
Yuriy Dyachyshyn | AFP | Getty Images
A girl looks at an empty school bus showing plush toys symbolizing each of the 243 Ukrainian children killed in their seats during an International Children’s Day commemoration in Lviv on June 1, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Lviv. Ukraine.
Yuriy Dyachyshyn | AFP | Getty Images
– Yuriy Dyachyshyn | AFP | Getty Images
UN Gutter quotes “progress” in talks to allow export of stored grain to Ukrainian ports
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at a joint press conference with Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita in Chisinau, Moldova on May 9, 2022.
Vladislav Culiomza | Reuters
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says there is “progress” in talks to allow export of stored grain to Ukrainian ports and ensure that Russian food and fertilizer have unrestricted access to world markets .
“I think there is progress, but we are not there yet,” Guterres said, adding that “these are very complex things,” because “everything is connected.”
Russia’s war against Ukraine has shut down the country’s Black Sea ports, halting food exports to many developing countries.
Guterres reiterated that the world should have access to Russian production of fertilizers and food “which is also essential for global markets in the current situation.”
Guterres spoke in Stockholm, where he met with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson ahead of a conference on climate and the environment on Thursday and Friday.
– Associated press
Poland can serve as an “economic center” to help Ukraine export grain, says Prime Minister
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attends the opening ceremony of a temporary shelter built with the help of the Polish government for those who lost their apartments in the war, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine in Borodyanka, near Kyiv, Ukraine, June 1, 2022.
Viacheslav Ratynskyi | Reuters
The Prime Minister of Poland says that the EU member state will serve as an “economic center” for neighboring Ukraine, helping it to export grain and other products while Russia blocks Ukraine’s export routes, mainly its own. ports.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki spoke in the Ukrainian city of Borodyanka, near Kyiv. Morawiecki was in a badly damaged settlement to open a series of container houses for homeless residents that was funded by Poland.
Morawiecki said that Poland is working to expand its infrastructure and capacity to facilitate the export of millions of tons of Ukrainian cereals and other agricultural products. Poland is receiving EU funding for this purpose, Morawiecki said.
He stressed that North African countries are heavily dependent on Ukrainian grain and could face problems feeding their populations without it.
– Associated press
Russia says the United States added fuel to the fire by supplying rockets to Ukraine
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is attending an event during Russia’s Victory Day commemoration in Moscow on May 9, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the United States was adding fuel to the fire by supplying more powerful rocket systems to Ukraine.
“We believe that the United States is deliberately pouring oil into the fire. Obviously, the United States is keeping the line that it will fight Russia to the last Ukrainian,” Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters.
His remarks are echoed by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who had said that the administration of President Joe Biden increased the risk of direct clashes between Moscow and Washington by supplying rockets to Ukraine.
“Sam Meredith.”
Germany will send the IRIS-T air defense system to Ukraine – Scholz
Scholz says Germany will supply Ukraine with the IRIS-T air defense system.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Germany will supply Ukraine with the IRIS-T air defense system, said Chancellor Olaf Scholz, following requests from Kyiv and German opposition parties to increase deliveries of heavy weapons.
Scholz said Germany had been “continuously surrendered since the start of the war,” noting more than 15 million rounds of ammunition, 100,000 grenades and more than 5,000 anti-tank mines had been sent to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on 24 of February.
“More recently, the government has decided to offer Germany the most modern air defense system in the form of an IRIS-T,” Scholz told lawmakers in the Bundestag.
A security source told Reuters last month that Germany was considering supplying medium-range ground-to-air defense systems IRIS-T SLM to Ukraine.
– Reuters
Russia now controls 70% of Sievierodonetsk, according to Ukraine’s regional governor
The eastern city of Sievierodonetsk has suffered heavy artillery and missile attacks by the Russian army.
Images of Soup light rocket | Getty Images
Russian forces have taken control of about 70 percent of Sievierodonetsk, according to Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai.
His comments come as Russian forces continue their offensive in the Donbas region. The Donbas refers to the two eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, an important strategic, political, and economic goal for the Kremlin.
Haidai told Telegram that the eastern city of Lysychansk remains “completely” under Ukrainian control.
However, all free settlements in the Luhansk region are constantly under fire and evacuation efforts have been suspended, Haidai said.
“Sam Meredith.”
Wheat cannot be “a weapon of war”, says Pope to call for lifting of Ukrainian bloc
Pope Francis leads his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on June 1, 2022.
Filippo Monteforte | Afp | Getty Images
Pope Francis on Wednesday called on authorities to lift the blockade on Ukraine’s wheat exports, saying the grain could not be used as a “weapon of war.”
Speaking to a general audience in front of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, he said the block should be raised because many millions of people depend on Ukrainian wheat, especially in the world’s poorest countries.
– Reuters
Russia says Biden’s arms supplies to Ukraine increase risk of direct clashes with US
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says the risk of direct clashes between Moscow and Washington has increased following the US decision to supply more advanced rocket systems to Ukraine.
Fabrice Coffrini | Afp | Getty Images
Russia has warned that US President Joe Biden’s decision to supply advanced rocket systems to Ukraine increases the risk of direct clashes between Moscow and Washington.
When asked if the likelihood of an open confrontation between Russia and the US would increase following the White House’s decision to supply Ukraine with more powerful rocket systems, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said : “Any continued arms delivery is on the rise. Increasing the risks of this development.”
Speaking to the RIA Novosti news agency, Ryabkov said of US foreign policy that “the remains of a responsible and solid approach …