Melodi
Disaster Cat
I agree this needs its own thread, at least for a day or two. I got a cup of tea and this happened (a couple of hours ago) - Melodi
www.rte.ie
Biden pledges new military aid for Ukraine during surprise visit
Updated / Monday, 20 Feb 2023 12:06
Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky at the Ukrainian presidential palace
Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky at the Ukrainian presidential palace
US President Joe Biden has promised new military aid for Ukraine worth $500 million during a surprise visit to Kyiv, almost a year to the day since Russia's invasion.
Mr Biden also said additional sanctions would be announced this week against the Russian elite and companies trying to evade sanctions to "back the Russian war machine".
The military aid package will include artillery ammunition, anti-armour systems, and air surveillance radars "to help protect the Ukrainian people from aerial bombardments," he said.
"The cost that Ukraine has had to pay is extraordinarily high. Sacrifices have been far too great," Mr Biden told reporters in Kyiv, where he held talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Mr Biden appeared to make no mention of fighter jets, which Ukraine has been seeking from Western allies to help it pushback Russian forces.
Air raid sirens blared as the US President walked with Mr Zelensky through central Kyiv but there were no reports of Russian missile or air strikes.
Visiting Kyiv for the first time since the start of Russia's war on Ukraine, Mr Biden said Washington would stand with Ukraine as long as it takes.
Joe Biden poses for a photograph with Volodymr Zelensky and his wife Olena
Mr Biden said his trip was intended to "reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine's democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity".
The United States has been by far the largest supplier of military assistance to help Ukraine repel better-equipped Russian invaders.
"This visit of the US president to Ukraine, the first for 15 years, is the most important visit in the entire history of Ukraine-US relations," Mr Zelensky said.
Mr Zelensky's chief of staff posted photographs of Mr Biden in sun glasses walking side-by-side with the Ukrainian President, who was wearing his trademark military-style clothing.
Kyiv is preparing for a possible major new Russian offensive that some military analysts say is already under way in the east.
In a speech, Mr Biden commended Ukraine's courage during the war, adding: "I knew I would be back.".
The air raid sirens wailed while the two leaders were inside the St Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral on a square in central Kyiv where burnt-out Russian tanks have been placed.
Mr Biden's trip fell on the day that Ukraine marks the deaths of more than 100 people - now known as the Heavenly Hundred - at anti-government protests that eventually toppled a Moscow-backed president in 2014.
Several main roads in central Kyiv were closed off to traffic this morning. Drivers stood waiting in traffic as gathering crowds of pedestrians peered over barricades to get a glimpse of who had come to the capital.
The anniversary has taken on more than symbolic significance, becoming what the West views as motivation for the war's deadliest phase as Moscow puts thousands of conscripts and mercenaries into a winter offensive.
Russia has secured only scant gains so far in assaults in frozen trenches up and down the eastern front in recent weeks. Kyiv and the West see it as a push to give Mr Putin victories to tout a year after he launched Europe's biggest war since World War II.
Moscow received its own apparent signal of diplomatic support, with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi expected in the Russian capital for talks.
In public, China has so far remained neutral over the conflict despite signing a "no limits" friendship pact with Russia weeks before the invasion.
Washington has said in recent days it is concerned Beijing could begin supplying Moscow with arms. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the United States was "in no position to make demands of China", and China's "comprehensive collaborative partnership with Russia" was a matter for two independent states.
Russia is trying to secure full control of two eastern provinces that form Ukraine's Donbas mining and industrial region. It has launched assaults at locations running from Kreminna in the north down to Vuhledar in the south, securing most of its recent gains around the mining city of Bakhmut.
Kyiv, which is absorbing a major influx of Western weaponry in coming months for a planned counter-offensive, has lately stuck mainly to defence on the battlefield, claiming to be inflicting huge casualties on the assaulting Russian forces.
Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky at a press conference in Kyiv
"The situation is very complicated. And we are fighting. We are breaking down the invaders and inflicting extraordinarily significant losses on Russia," Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
"The more losses Russia suffers there, in Donbas - in Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Marinka, Kreminna - the faster we will be able to end this war with Ukraine's victory."
Britain's Ministry of Defence said Russia was taking huge casualties, including two elite brigades of thousands of marines probably rendered "combat ineffective" by high losses in failed attempts to storm Vuhledar, a heavily fortified Ukrainian bastion.
"The Russian forces are likely under increasing political pressure as the anniversary of the invasion draws near," it said, predicting Moscow would claim to have captured Bakhmut regardless of the situation on the ground.
"If Russia's spring offensive fails to achieve anything, then tensions within the Russian leadership will likely increase."
Ukrainian servicemen in Siversk, eastern Ukraine
NATO support
Ukrainian officials have urged US Congress members to press Mr Biden's administration to send F-16 fighters to Kyiv, saying the aircraft would boost Ukraine's ability to hit Russian missile units with US-made rockets, US politicians said.
The lobbying came over the weekend on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in talks between Ukrainian officials, including Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and Democrats and Republicans from the Senate and House of Representatives.
Mr Biden last month said "no" when asked if he would approve Ukraine's request for Lockheed-Martin-made F-16s.
But administration officials said the United States should focus on providing weapons that can be used immediately on the battlefield, rather than fighter jets that require extensive training.
Even so, they did not rule out providing F-16s.
"Discussions will continue over the course of the next few weeks and months," US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on CNN.
An elderly local resident walks past a building destroyed as a result of shelling in Kharkiv
Mr Biden will also visit Poland, where Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said they would discuss possibly increasing US troop presence there and making it more permanent.
Mr Biden said last June that the US would set up a new permanent army headquarters in Poland in response to Russian threats.
He will also meet Polish President Andrzej Duda and Eastern European allies and speak about Ukraine, according to the White House.
"We are in the process of discussion with President Biden's administration about making their (troop) presence more permanent and increasing them," Mr Morawiecki said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
Read full coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron suggested over the weekend that Russia should be "defeated but not crushed" and that the conflict in Ukraine would have to be settled by negotiations, although there is presently no prospect of peace talks.
Responding to the remarks, Mr Zelensky said in an interview published yesterday that Mr Macron was wasting his time considering any sort of dialogue with Russia.
The two presidents spoke by telephone yesterday.
"It will be a useless dialogue. In fact Macron is wasting his time. I have come to the conclusion that we are not able to change the Russian attitude," Mr Zelensky told Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
"It is up to them to choose or not to cooperate with the community of nations on the basis of mutual respect."
Russia says it was forced to launch what it calls a "special military operations" in Ukraine to rid the country of Nazis and protect Russian speakers.
Kyiv and its allies say the invasion is an unprovoked war of aggression.
TASS news agency reported that Russia had charged 680 Ukrainian officials, including 118 members of the armed forces and defence ministry, with breaking laws governing the conduct of war.
The report came two days after US Vice President Kamala Harris said at the Munich Security Conference there was "no doubt" Russian forces had committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine, an allegation Russia denies.
Biden vows more support for Ukraine in surprise visit
US President Joe Biden has promised new military aid for Ukraine worth $500 million during a surprise visit to Kyiv, almost a year to the day since Russia's invasion.
Updated / Monday, 20 Feb 2023 12:06
Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky at the Ukrainian presidential palace
Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky at the Ukrainian presidential palace
US President Joe Biden has promised new military aid for Ukraine worth $500 million during a surprise visit to Kyiv, almost a year to the day since Russia's invasion.
Mr Biden also said additional sanctions would be announced this week against the Russian elite and companies trying to evade sanctions to "back the Russian war machine".
The military aid package will include artillery ammunition, anti-armour systems, and air surveillance radars "to help protect the Ukrainian people from aerial bombardments," he said.
"The cost that Ukraine has had to pay is extraordinarily high. Sacrifices have been far too great," Mr Biden told reporters in Kyiv, where he held talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Mr Biden appeared to make no mention of fighter jets, which Ukraine has been seeking from Western allies to help it pushback Russian forces.
Air raid sirens blared as the US President walked with Mr Zelensky through central Kyiv but there were no reports of Russian missile or air strikes.
Visiting Kyiv for the first time since the start of Russia's war on Ukraine, Mr Biden said Washington would stand with Ukraine as long as it takes.
Joe Biden poses for a photograph with Volodymr Zelensky and his wife Olena
Mr Biden said his trip was intended to "reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine's democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity".
The United States has been by far the largest supplier of military assistance to help Ukraine repel better-equipped Russian invaders.
"This visit of the US president to Ukraine, the first for 15 years, is the most important visit in the entire history of Ukraine-US relations," Mr Zelensky said.
Mr Zelensky's chief of staff posted photographs of Mr Biden in sun glasses walking side-by-side with the Ukrainian President, who was wearing his trademark military-style clothing.
Kyiv is preparing for a possible major new Russian offensive that some military analysts say is already under way in the east.
In a speech, Mr Biden commended Ukraine's courage during the war, adding: "I knew I would be back.".
The air raid sirens wailed while the two leaders were inside the St Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral on a square in central Kyiv where burnt-out Russian tanks have been placed.
Mr Biden's trip fell on the day that Ukraine marks the deaths of more than 100 people - now known as the Heavenly Hundred - at anti-government protests that eventually toppled a Moscow-backed president in 2014.
Several main roads in central Kyiv were closed off to traffic this morning. Drivers stood waiting in traffic as gathering crowds of pedestrians peered over barricades to get a glimpse of who had come to the capital.
The anniversary has taken on more than symbolic significance, becoming what the West views as motivation for the war's deadliest phase as Moscow puts thousands of conscripts and mercenaries into a winter offensive.
Russia has secured only scant gains so far in assaults in frozen trenches up and down the eastern front in recent weeks. Kyiv and the West see it as a push to give Mr Putin victories to tout a year after he launched Europe's biggest war since World War II.
Moscow received its own apparent signal of diplomatic support, with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi expected in the Russian capital for talks.
In public, China has so far remained neutral over the conflict despite signing a "no limits" friendship pact with Russia weeks before the invasion.
Washington has said in recent days it is concerned Beijing could begin supplying Moscow with arms. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the United States was "in no position to make demands of China", and China's "comprehensive collaborative partnership with Russia" was a matter for two independent states.
Russia is trying to secure full control of two eastern provinces that form Ukraine's Donbas mining and industrial region. It has launched assaults at locations running from Kreminna in the north down to Vuhledar in the south, securing most of its recent gains around the mining city of Bakhmut.
Kyiv, which is absorbing a major influx of Western weaponry in coming months for a planned counter-offensive, has lately stuck mainly to defence on the battlefield, claiming to be inflicting huge casualties on the assaulting Russian forces.
Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky at a press conference in Kyiv
"The situation is very complicated. And we are fighting. We are breaking down the invaders and inflicting extraordinarily significant losses on Russia," Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
"The more losses Russia suffers there, in Donbas - in Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Marinka, Kreminna - the faster we will be able to end this war with Ukraine's victory."
Britain's Ministry of Defence said Russia was taking huge casualties, including two elite brigades of thousands of marines probably rendered "combat ineffective" by high losses in failed attempts to storm Vuhledar, a heavily fortified Ukrainian bastion.
"The Russian forces are likely under increasing political pressure as the anniversary of the invasion draws near," it said, predicting Moscow would claim to have captured Bakhmut regardless of the situation on the ground.
"If Russia's spring offensive fails to achieve anything, then tensions within the Russian leadership will likely increase."
Ukrainian servicemen in Siversk, eastern Ukraine
NATO support
Ukrainian officials have urged US Congress members to press Mr Biden's administration to send F-16 fighters to Kyiv, saying the aircraft would boost Ukraine's ability to hit Russian missile units with US-made rockets, US politicians said.
The lobbying came over the weekend on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in talks between Ukrainian officials, including Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and Democrats and Republicans from the Senate and House of Representatives.
Mr Biden last month said "no" when asked if he would approve Ukraine's request for Lockheed-Martin-made F-16s.
But administration officials said the United States should focus on providing weapons that can be used immediately on the battlefield, rather than fighter jets that require extensive training.
Even so, they did not rule out providing F-16s.
"Discussions will continue over the course of the next few weeks and months," US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on CNN.
An elderly local resident walks past a building destroyed as a result of shelling in Kharkiv
Mr Biden will also visit Poland, where Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said they would discuss possibly increasing US troop presence there and making it more permanent.
Mr Biden said last June that the US would set up a new permanent army headquarters in Poland in response to Russian threats.
He will also meet Polish President Andrzej Duda and Eastern European allies and speak about Ukraine, according to the White House.
"We are in the process of discussion with President Biden's administration about making their (troop) presence more permanent and increasing them," Mr Morawiecki said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
Read full coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron suggested over the weekend that Russia should be "defeated but not crushed" and that the conflict in Ukraine would have to be settled by negotiations, although there is presently no prospect of peace talks.
Responding to the remarks, Mr Zelensky said in an interview published yesterday that Mr Macron was wasting his time considering any sort of dialogue with Russia.
The two presidents spoke by telephone yesterday.
"It will be a useless dialogue. In fact Macron is wasting his time. I have come to the conclusion that we are not able to change the Russian attitude," Mr Zelensky told Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
"It is up to them to choose or not to cooperate with the community of nations on the basis of mutual respect."
Russia says it was forced to launch what it calls a "special military operations" in Ukraine to rid the country of Nazis and protect Russian speakers.
Kyiv and its allies say the invasion is an unprovoked war of aggression.
TASS news agency reported that Russia had charged 680 Ukrainian officials, including 118 members of the armed forces and defence ministry, with breaking laws governing the conduct of war.
The report came two days after US Vice President Kamala Harris said at the Munich Security Conference there was "no doubt" Russian forces had committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine, an allegation Russia denies.
