Vice President Kamala Harris to visit Poland and Romania on Wednesday as the United States and its NATO allies seek to bolster Ukrainian militants while avoiding involved in a broad war with Russia.
Diplomatic turmoil hit headlines on Tuesday after the Polish government said it would give up all its Soviet MiG-29 fighters in the US appear to allow them to be used by the Ukrainian military. In turn, Poland wanted the United States to supply the Polish military with American-made aircraft with “appropriate capabilities.”
But Polish officials did not pass the idea by the Biden administration before making it public, and the Pentagon quickly dismissed the idea as “inappropriate.”
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement that the prospect of planes flying from a U.S.-NATO base in Germany to fly into airspace, which is contested with Russia in the war in Ukraine, is a matter of concern. He said that it was unclear to the United States that there was a substantial justification for this.
The Pentagon said the United States would continue to talk to Poland in this regard.
Meanwhile, air raid sirens sounded over the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday as officials strengthened defenses in key cities threatened by Russian troops. Two weeks after the war, thousands of civilians and soldiers died in Ukraine’s fierce struggle to repel the invaders. Russian troops have laid siege to several cities, capturing civilians inside without food, water or medicine.
Recent events:
►Congress leaders reached a bipartisan agreement early Wednesday to allocate $ 13.6 billion to help Ukraine and its European allies amid the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
►China states that it is sending 5 million yuan ($ 791,000) in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including food and basic necessities, while continuing to oppose sanctions against Russia over its invasion.
►Most Asian stock markets recovered on Wednesday after the fall of Wall Street and President Joe Biden’s ban on Russian oil imports.
► The White House announced late Tuesday that The Venezuelan government has released two American prisonersincluding an oil chief who has been in jail with colleagues for more than four years as he seeks to improve relations with the Biden administration amid Russia’s war with Ukraine.
►President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated that dozens of children died in the war: “The worst number is 50 Ukrainian children killed in 13 days of war. But then in an hour there were 52 children. I never forgive that. And I know that you will never forgive the occupiers. “
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Visual materials:Mapping and tracking Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Chernobyl loses electricity, Ukraine declares possible leakage of radioactive resources
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian troops for several days, has been disconnected from the grid and poses a threat of leakage of radioactive substances, Ukraenergo reported. Repairs are impossible due to enemy fire and the presence of the military, said utilities. The state-owned nuclear company Energoatom said radioactive substances could be thrown out of the station because it could not cool spent nuclear fuel.
The station, the site of one of the world’s largest nuclear disasters in 1986, has not generated electricity for several years. However, decommissioning is not complete, and authorities say Chernobyl has about 20,000 spent fuel assemblies that cannot be kept cold in the event of a power outage.
McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coke and GE are suspending business in Russia
McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola and General Electric – ubiquitous global brands and symbols of U.S. corporate power – announced on Tuesday that they were temporarily suspending operations in Russia in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Our values mean that we cannot ignore the unnecessary human suffering that is unfolding in Ukraine,” said Chris Kempczynski, President and CEO of McDonald’s, in an open letter to staff. The Chicago burger giant has said it will temporarily close 850 stores but will continue to pay its 62,000 employees in Russia.
McDonald’s is likely to suffer the biggest financial blow. Unlike Starbucks and other fast food companies such as KFC and Pizza Hut, whose Russian affiliates are owned by franchisees, McDonald’s owns 84% of Russian stores.
On Tuesday, Starbucks said it would temporarily close 130 Russian stores owned and operated by the franchisee, after earlier announcing it would donate profits from those stores to humanitarian aid in Ukraine. Read more here.
– Associated Press
U.S. officials have put Americans on alert for Russian cyberattacks
U.S. officials are very concerned war in Ukraine could affect American cyber networks when the war enters its third week Russian President Vladimir Putin becomes more isolated.
The main federal agency for cybersecurity told USA TODAY on Tuesday that this was the case encouraging American organizations to increase their security.
“While there are no specific, credible cyber threats to the United States, we urge all organizations, regardless of size, to take steps to improve their cybersecurity and protect their critical assets,” the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency said in a statement.
Last week, the Biden administration demanded from Congress emergency funding for defense assistance, including to support Ukraine’s cyber defense, and $ 28 million to strengthen “the FBI’s investigation and response to cyber threats stemming from the threat of Russia and the war against Ukraine.” ”, According to a request for additional funding.
– Tammy Abdullah
15 years for calling the invasion of Ukraine a “war”? Russia’s new law on censorship.
As Russia becomes increasingly isolated from the Western world as a result of sanctions and bans for its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has, in a sense, accepted isolation, displacing the non-Russian language and the press.
The bill quickly passed through both houses The Kremlin-controlled parliament was signed by Putin on March 4 that criminalizing the deliberate dissemination of information that contradicts the government’s narrative, some words such as “war” and “invasion” could put someone in jail for up to 15 years.
Experts told USA TODAY that Russia had been pressuring freedom of speech and the independent press for years – even decades – without such a significant reaction. The country has even passed a number of similar laws in the past.
This time the consequences could be much more dangerous. Read more here.
– Selina Tebar
Biden announces ban on all imports of Russian energy due to invasion of Ukraine
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday a ban on US imports of all Russian energy products will target the “main artery of the Russian economy” in recent attempts to tighten sanctions President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Russian oil will no longer be accepted in US ports,” the president said at the White House on Tuesday. “We will not be involved in subsidizing Putin’s war.”
Although Biden said the move would deal a “powerful blow to Putin’s military machine”, he warned that the decision would feel at home where Americans see prices are rising for gas stations.
The president said he made the decision after consultations with European allies, but they may not be able to join the ban.
– Courtney Subramanian, Maureen Grop and Bart Jansen
Contributed by: Associated Press
