Page 4 - Ukraine Civil War

White House seeks $13.7 billion more as emergency package for Ukraine

President Joe Biden is asking Congress to provide USD 13.7 billion in emergency dollars for Ukraine as U.S. aid to the war-torn country is running out. The request, which comes as lawmakers are preparing to return to Washington, is part of a larger USD 47.1 billion emergency spending package the White House is proposing to pay for the COVID-19 response, the ongoing monkeypox outbreak and help for recent natural disasters in Kentucky and other states. Congress will have to extend current financing for federal agencies before it runs out on Sept. 30. The money for Ukraine would be on top of USD 40 billion that was approved earlier this year. Administration officials said that roughly three-quarters of that military and budgetary support has been disbursed or committed. The new billions would include money for equipment, intelligence support and direct budgetary support for Ukraine. It would also include USD 1.5 billion for uranium to fuel U.S. nuclear reactors as the Russian supply ..

Russia 'sternly' warns US off sending long-range weapons to Ukraine

A senior Russian diplomat sternly warned Washington Friday against supplying long-range weapons to Ukraine, noting that the U.S. is balancing on the edge of direct involvement in the conflict. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also pointed to the country's military doctrine that envisages the use of nuclear weapons in case of a threat to the existence of the Russian state. We have repeatedly warned the U.S. about the consequences that may follow if the U.S. continues to flood Ukraine with weapons," Ryabkov said. It effectively puts itself in a state close to what can be described as a party to the conflict. Speaking on state television, Ryabkov warned that a very narrow margin that separates the U.S. from becoming a party to the conflict mustn't create an illusion for rabid anti-Russian forces that everything will remain as it is if they cross it. He emphasized that Russia will push its offensive in Ukraine until it reaches its aims. Russia is capable of fully defending its .

US requests UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine for Sept 7: French envoy

The United States has requested a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine to be held in the afternoon on September 7, the French Ambassador to the United Nations Nicolas de Riviere said

Volunteer sniper embodies Ukraine's versatile military amid unending crisis

Before taking a shot, Ukrainian sniper Andriy buries his face in a foldout mat, breathing slowly and deliberately. I need to be completely relaxed, to find a place where I will not move the rifle when I pull the trigger, he says. I don't think about anything. It's a kind of vacuum. In a semicircle around his head are boxes of bullets, printouts of charts, a heavy-duty stapler and a roll of tape. Strapped to his wrist is a monitor, which is the shape of a jewellery box. It's a ballistics calculator to factor in the wind and other surrounding conditions. Bees persistently circling his head and scope are ignored. After a long pause, he says the word shot in Ukrainian. Crack! A sound not unlike a starting gun used at sporting events produces a reflexive jolt in people unaccustomed to war. Six months ago, the noise might have startled Andriy, who had moved to Western Europe to pursue a career in engineering. Andriy comes from Bucha, a district near Kyiv's airport that was hammered d

Ending Russia's Ukraine invasion critical for food crisis, fuel prices: US

US Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo discussed with Indian policymakers ways to jointly deal with global challenges like food insecurity and high energy prices, asserting that ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine was critical to address these issues. Adeyemo held meetings on Friday with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Principal Secretary to the prime minister PK Mishra, Finance Secretary Ajay Seth, Foreign Secretary Vijay Kwatra and Petroleum Secretary Pankaj Jain. The US official's visit to India from August 24 to 26 came amid rising disquiet among Western powers over New Deli's increasing procurement of crude oil from Russia. A readout by the US Department of Treasury said Adeyemo shared with his counterparts the United States' views on ways to "put downward pressure" on energy prices for consumers and businesses in India, the US, and globally. It said he also underscored the importance of further deepening the already strong US-India relationship, including through

UK PM Boris Johnson slams Russia's 'cultural vandalism' in Ukraine

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned Russia's "cultural vandalism" in Ukraine, saying invading forces are trying to erase Ukrainian culture in areas they have taken over

Ukraine train system attacks by Russia may be war crimes, say experts

Russia's attack on a Ukrainian train station that killed more than 20 people this week is the latest in a series of strikes on the country's railway system that some international legal scholars say may be war crimes. While Russia claimed that it had targeted the train because it was carrying Ukrainian troops and equipment on Wednesday, an Associated Press reporter on the ground said there was no visible indication that Ukrainian troops were among the dead, who included children. If civilians were the target, experts said Thursday, the attack could be considered a war crime. A train station is generally a civilian object and should not be a target of attack, said Jennifer Trahan, a clinical professor at New York University's Centre for Global Affairs. Wednesday's attack in Chaplyne, a small village in southeastern Ukraine, was one of the deadliest in months on the country's extensive railway system. In the nearly six months since Russia invaded Ukraine, the AP and the PBS series ..

Russia blocks final document at nuclear treaty conference with UN

Russia late Friday blocked agreement on the final document of a four-week review of the UN treaty considered the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament which criticized its military takeover of Europe's largest nuclear plant soon after Russian troops invaded Ukraine, an act that has raised fears of a nuclear accident. Igor Vishnevetsky, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department, told the delayed final meeting of the conference reviewing the 50-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that "unfortunately there is no consensus on this document." He insisted that many countries not just Russia didn't agree with "a whole host of issues" in the 36-page last draft. The document needed approval by all 191 countries that are parties to the treaty aimed at curbing the spread of nuclear weapons and ultimately achieving a world without them. Argentine Ambassador Gustavo Zlauvinen, president of the conference, said the final draft represented

Nuke plant could be on brink of disaster: Zelenksyy as reactors shut down

Zelenskyy has warned of a potential disaster at the besieged Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, after a power outage forced an emergency shutdown of two of the plant's reactors

Vatican's diplomacy sees setbacks, Ukraine heartbroken over Pope's comment

The Vatican's Russia-Ukraine diplomacy suffered two setbacks Thursday when the head of the Russian Orthodox Church cancelled a planned meeting with Pope Francis and Ukraine summoned the papal ambassador to complain about Francis' latest comments about the war. "The Ukrainian heart is torn apart by the pope's words," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters in Kyiv after the Vatican nuncio was summoned. "It was unfair." He was responding to Francis' comments about the weekend car bomb slaying in Moscow of Darya Dugina, a nationalist Russian TV commentator and daughter of the right-wing Russian political theorist, Alexander Dugin, who ardently supports the war. Francis listed the "poor girl" killed by a car bomb in Moscow, as well as orphans in Ukraine and Russia, among the "innocents" who have been victimized by the "insanity of war." Russia has accused Ukrainian intelligence in the bombing, which Ukraine denies. Francis has denounced the war in Ukraine but has tried

Six months of Putin's war in Ukraine unravels Russia's superpower image

Six months into President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the war has upended fundamental assumptions about Russia's military and economy

UN expresses concern over possible trials of Ukrainian prisoners of war

Trials of Ukrainian PoWs by Russian authorities could start within days, the UN Human Rights Office said, as it warned such proceedings could amount to war crimes under international law

Russian politician Roizman detained for criticising Ukraine invasion

Roizman, a former mayor of the city of Yekaterinburg, is being investigated for "discrediting the Russian army"

Moscow again accuses UN of blocking nuclear experts from Zaporizhzhya plant

Russia's Foreign Ministry has once again accused the United Nations of blocking a mission of experts to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine

Canada announces new sanctions against Russia, funds two Ukraine projects

Trudeau said that Canada is imposing new measures on 62 close associates of the Russian government and a defence sector entity

Here's how 6-months of Ukraine-Russia war rattled global financial markets

Over six months since Russia invaded Ukraine in what Moscow calls its "special military operation" thousands have been killed, millions made homeless and the world has seen the worst East-West tension

Moscow seeks 'sense of normal' amid ongoing conflict with Ukraine

At Moscow's sprawling Izmailovsky outdoor souvenir market, shoppers can find cups and T-shirts commemorating Russia's deployment of troops into Ukraine but from the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. There's nothing about the special military operation that began six months ago. Throughout the capital, there are few overt sign that Russia is engaged in the worst fighting in Europe since World War II. Displays of the letter Z which initially spread as an icon of the fight, replicating the insignia painted on Russian military vehicles are hardly seen. There are only some scattered posters on bus shelters, showing the impassive face of one soldier or another and the words, Glory to the heroes of Russia. The posters give no clue as to what the man did, or where he did it. The public reticence, or denial, about the operation in Ukraine is striking in a country where military exploits are deeply woven into the social fabric. The annexation of Crimea produced almost instant memes

UN fact-finding mission members appointed for Donetsk prison attack

UN Secretary-General has appointed members of a fact-finding mission to look into the July 29 attack on a Donetsk prison in Ukraine that reportedly killed dozens of prisoners of war

UN chief demands halt to "nuclear saber-rattling'' at Ukrainian nuke plant

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has demanded a halt to nuclear saber-rattling, saying the world is at a maximum moment of danger and all countries with nuclear weapons must make a commitment to no first-use. The UN chief on Monday told the Security Council that the commitment to dialogue and reason that led to the recent deal restarting grain and fertiliser shipments from Ukraine and Russia must be applied to the critical situation at Europe's largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, where continued shelling and fighting in the area has raised fears of a nuclear catastrophe. Saying humanity's future is in our hands today, Guterres urged all countries to recommit to a world free of nuclear weapons and to spare no effort to come to the negotiating table to ease tensions and end the nuclear arms race, once and for all. The secretary-general spoke at a council meeting organised by China, which holds the presidency this month, on promoting common securit

UNICEF head voices concern over child casualties in Russia-Ukraine conflict

UNICEF has voiced concern over child casualties in the Ukraine conflict