WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said he was sending another $ 800 million in weapons and ammunition to Ukraine in the coming days, calling it the “front line of freedom” as it defended itself against Russian invasion.
This $ 800 million weapons package increases the amount of US security aid to Ukraine to $ 3.4 billion since the Russians began their invasion on February 24.
Biden says he will ask Congress to approve another billion dollars in aid to Ukraine next week, as last month’s aid package was “almost exhausted.” He said officials are still arranging the right amount to ask for.
Biden said the United States has “the ability to do so for a long time” as it supplies weapons to Ukraine, but needs to work harder to sustain international pressure on Russia in retaliation for its invasion.
Biden said, despite allegations by Russian President Vladimir Putin, “There is still no evidence that Mariupol has completely fallen.” Ukrainian forces and civilians are surrounded by massive steel production in the city, and Biden called on Russia to provide humanitarian corridors so that civilians can escape safely.
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KEY DEVELOPMENT OF THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:
– Putin is trying to claim victory in Mariupol, but will not storm the resistance
– The Chinese Xi insists on resolving disputes and opposes sanctions
– EXPLANATOR: What is the effect if Europe stops Russian oil?
– Biden is ready to announce new military aid to Ukraine
– AP-NORC poll: Many say Biden is not tough enough on Russia
Follow all AP stories about Russia’s war against Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
WASHINGTON – The Biden administration is making it easier for refugees fleeing Russia’s war against Ukraine to arrive in the United States from Europe as it tries to close an unofficial route through northern Mexico that has emerged in recent weeks.
A program announced Thursday will streamline refugee applications for Ukrainians and others fleeing the fighting. But it will no longer allow the routine entry of those who appear on the US-Mexico border seeking refuge, as thousands have done since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began nearly two months ago.
The United States says it expects to accept up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine, and about 15,000 have come since the February 24 invasion, mostly through Mexico. Officials said this route would no longer be an option as of Monday, except in extreme circumstances.
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WASHINGTON – A Treasury Department official says the United States will provide an additional $ 500 million in financial assistance to Ukraine to help it sustain salaries, pensions and other government programs.
The official was not authorized to speak publicly before Thursday’s announcement, when Finance Minister Janet Yellen is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmihal, along with Deputy Secretary Wally Adeimo and Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko.
The new funding comes in addition to $ 500 million in economic aid that President Joe Biden unveiled in March.
The announcement comes amid spring meetings between the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, dominated by talks on how to manage the aftermath of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
– By Fatima Hussein and Chris Megerian
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Kyiv, Ukraine – The Danish prime minister announced during a visit to Kyiv that her country will double the amount it has given Ukraine to buy weapons.
Prime Minister Mete Frederiksen said on Thursday that Denmark would donate 600 million kroner ($ 874,000). Standing next to Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, she called it a “new, significant contribution”.
Frederiksen said the total Danish military contribution is now 1 billion kroner. Denmark will also assist Ukraine in clearing mines in areas under Ukrainian control.
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BERLIN – The United Nations Migration Agency says the number of people displaced in Ukraine since the Russian invasion has risen to 7.7 million.
The Geneva-based International Organization for Migration said on Thursday that more than 600,000 additional people had been displaced in the first 17 days of April.
IOM figures come a day after the UN refugee agency said the number of people fleeing Ukraine since the start of the war on February 24 had risen to more than 5 million.
The IOM said more than half of the IDPs, mostly in the eastern part of the country, reported missing some food. It says their most pressing problems include cash and access to financial support, followed by medicines.
Ukraine had a pre-war population of 44 million.
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WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s foreign ministry says Poland has frozen the bank account of the Russian embassy in Warsaw on suspicion of using it for “not good” purposes.
Ministry spokesman Lukash Yasina said on Thursday that the account had been frozen by prosecutors. He said the Polish embassy and consulate in Russia had been exposed to various retaliatory steps – roads around the embassy in Moscow had been dug up in the past two weeks, making it difficult to enter and exit the complex.
He said that almost prevented the departure of Polish diplomats expelled from Russia in the international quarrel over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Yasina did not give more details about the action of the prosecutor’s office. According to the Business Insider portal, prosecutors have ordered the freezing of the embassy’s account and that of the Russian trade mission in Poland for six months shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, saying the money in the accounts could be used to finance terrorism.
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LONDON – The British government has announced new sanctions against the leaders of the Russian army responsible for “committing atrocities on the front line.”
The foreign ministry said on Thursday it was targeting several Russian generals and military commanders, including Lt. Col. Azatbek Omurbekov. Authorities say the so-called “Butcher of Bucha” commanded the forces that occupied the city near Kyiv, where there were numerous reports of war crimes and killings of civilians.
Omurbekov and several others were banned from traveling and assets were frozen. British authorities also said on Thursday that they were expanding their list of sanctions to individuals and companies supporting President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Among them are Oleg Belozerov, chief executive of the Russian Railways logistics company, and Russian arms suppliers and manufacturers such as the Kalashnikov.
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MILAN – Italian energy company ENI has signed an agreement with the Republic of the Congo to increase production and supply of natural gas to Italy, as part of European steps to reduce dependence on Russian energy in the invasion of Ukraine.
The deal, signed on Thursday, is in addition to recent deals to increase production and supplies from Algeria and Angola. Italy currently receives about 38% of its natural gas from Russia and has signed replacement deals for about half.
The new deal, signed in Brazzaville, envisions a new liquefied natural gas project, which is expected to launch next year with a capacity of up to 4.5 billion cubic meters a year for export. ENI said it also agreed to support sustainable energy projects in the Central African country.
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Kyiv, Ukraine – An adviser to the Ukrainian president has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian fortress in Mariupol means that the Russian military is unable to carry out the task.
Alexei Arestovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Thursday that “they cannot physically take over Azovstal”, a giant steel mine that is Ukraine’s last stronghold in the strategic port of the Sea of Azov.
Arestovich’s statement followed Putin’s attempt to claim control of Mariupol, although Ukrainian defenders continue to fight in Azovstal. Putin has ordered the defense minister not to send troops to storm the plant and block it instead.
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HELSINKI – The Latvian Parliament has approved a statement accusing Russia of committing genocide against the Ukrainian people.
The statement, approved unanimously on Thursday by the 100-seat legislature of the Baltic Saeima, cited extensive evidence and evidence of crimes committed by the Russian military in Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol and elsewhere.
It says that as a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the European Union and NATO, Latvia cannot accept Russia’s actions. Neighboring Estonia’s parliament agreed to a similar statement later Thursday.
The statement from Latvia also called on EU member states to immediately stop importing Russian oil and gas.
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MOSCOW – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Russia’s military operation in Ukraine “continues as planned”, although President Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces not to storm the Azovstal steel plant, the latest focus of Ukrainian forces in the port city of Mariupol. .
Peskov told reporters on Thursday that “there was and still is a possibility for Ukrainian troops to lay down their arms and exit through the established corridors.”
He said that “the operation continues as planned” and that Mariupol is “liberated”. Asked whether the order not to storm the steel plant was a change in plans, he said “it is a separate facility where the rest of the group of Ukrainian nationalists is completely blocked.”
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BERLIN – Germany’s foreign minister has said her country and others continue to put pressure on Russia to allow people to leave the Ukrainian city of Mariupol and stop strikes on potential evacuation routes.
Foreign Minister Analena Berbok told a press conference with her Estonian counterpart in Tallinn on Thursday that attempts to secure humanitarian corridors have been a problem for weeks. She noted that in some cases such corridors had been shelled and “you can see that assurances cannot be relied on”.
Burbock said that Germany and its partners, such as …
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