Evgenia Kravchuk says Ukraine is looking for three main things from the United States
April 24, 2022, 4:06 p.m.
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As the people of Ukraine continue to defend themselves against the Russian attack, Evgenia Kravchuk, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, says the nation is still looking for three main things from the United States: heavy weapons, sanctions against Russia and financial aid.
“We need more weapons … Because at the moment the Russians are putting up artillery, tanks, everything they have, and they are also bombing civilians to terrorize the whole country,” Kravchuk told This Week host Marta Radac. “As long as we get more than we burn every day, we are able to win and we are able to drive out the Russians, because this is the way to end this – to end this war.
Last week, President Joe Biden announced another $ 800 million to support Ukraine’s military efforts in the Donbass region and said he would send a request to Congress for an additional budget to continue supporting the nation. The new aid includes artillery, anti-aircraft missiles and helicopters.
Finance Minister Janet Yellen also announced on Thursday that the department would provide an additional $ 500 million in financial assistance.
Kravchuk, a member of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party in the national parliament, said it was important for the United States to provide offensive weapons, “because it’s like giving the green light to other European countries, for example, to give those weapons.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Russia had taken over the eastern city of Mariupol, a claim that Ukrainians repulsed with 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers hiding in the steel plant as they continued to fight.
There are also reports of 120,000 civilians still trapped in the besieged city.
Last week, only four buses and several private vehicles managed to escape the city, the first to leave in about two weeks.
“Is there a chance for? [a] humanitarian corridor at the moment? “Radac asked.
“Yesterday, the Russians did not let the humanitarian corridor work,” Kravchuk said. “At one point, hundreds of people gathered to leave Mariupol, and Russian soldiers just came and said no, we do not allow this to happen.
She said Russian soldiers were making “forced deportations” from Ukraine to Vladivostok, a Russian city thousands of miles away.
“And we don’t know how to bring them back to Ukraine. They withdrew these people from Mariupol – they were put in filtration camps,” Kravchuk said. “This is something that cannot happen in the 21st century. And we really hope that maybe with the help of other Western leaders, other leaders from similar worlds, we will be able to get the children and women who are still in the basements of this factory and inside Mariupol. “
Zelenski announced that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will arrive in Kyiv on Sunday to discuss logistics for more military aid. US officials have not yet confirmed the visit.
Asked by Raddac about the significance of the visit, Kravchuk called it “a truly, truly symbolic and powerful signal to Russia that Ukraine will not be left alone with this war.”
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