Thursday, March 28

Biden pledges $100 million in defense aid


European Commission head says proposed sanctions package ‘will not be our last’

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said newly proposed sanctions to pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine “will not be our last.”

“We must increase pressure on Putin and the Russian government again,” she said in a tweet Wednesday. “So, we propose to tighten our sanctions even further.”

Under the fifth round of sanctions, a ban would be placed on coal and on Russian ships, with a few exceptions, including for those carrying food and humanitarian aid. The proposed package also includes a full transaction ban on four Russian banks. Russian and Belarusian transport companies would also be blocked from entering the European Union.

The new sanctions would “limit the Kremlin’s political and economic options,” von der Leyen said. “They affect Russia much harder than us.”

However, she suggested further penalties would be needed to pressure Moscow to end its invasion of Ukraine, saying they would not be the last sanctions to be laid against Russia.

Hungary summons Ukraine ambassador over ‘insults’

Hungary’s foreign ministry summoned Ukraine’s ambassador Wednesday over “insults” about Budapest’s stance on Russia’s invasion.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced the development in a statement shared on Facebook Wednesday, saying it was “time for Ukrainian leaders to stop their insults directed at Hungary and acknowledge the will of the Hungarian people.”

He said Hungary has condemned Russia’s invasion and has acknowledged Ukraine’s sovereignty, in addition to taking hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the war.

However, he said: “This is not our war, so we want to and will stay out of it,” Szijjarto said, referring to his country’s neutral stance on the war.

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The comment comes just days after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was re-elected and after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Orban appeared to fear Russia’s influence.

Pope Francis holds a Ukrainian flag that was sent to him from the town of Bucha during the weekly general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday.

Rowing Casilli / Reuters

UK to donate fleet of ambulances to Ukraine

The United Kingdom has said it will donate a fleet of 20 ambulances to Ukraine.

The first ambulances will arrive in Ukraine this week, destined for Lviv, which will be further transported to the areas most in need, Britain’s Foreign Affairs Office said.

In a press release on Wednesday, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the “world class NHS ambulances will now help bring lifesaving care directly to those injured in the conflict.”

The UK government has so far donated more than 5 million items of medical supplies and pledged almost $300 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, the release said.

Eleven humanitarian corridors to open in Ukraine

Eleven humanitarian corridors for evacuation and aid have been planned for Wednesday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced on Telegram.

The planned corridors include evacuation out of the besieged city of Mariupol using own private transport as well as from the cities of Melitopol and Berdyansk, she said.

Safe routes out of Mariupol have been repeatedly blocked and attacked, making evacuations nearly impossible, Ukrainian officials have said. Earlier on Tuesday, Vereshchuk said that a convoy of seven buses was forced to return after facing a blockade west of Mariupol, in the area of ​​Manhush.

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Vereshchuk also said that buses full of humanitarian aid will be sent from Zaporizhzhia to Melitopol and Huliaipole.

A woman walks a dog in a wheelchair decorated with the Ukrainian flag in downtown Odessa on Tuesday.

UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT
Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP via Getty Images

India ‘unequivocally’ condemns Russia’s actions in Bucha

India’s ambassador to the United Nations said the country “unequivocally” condemns the atrocities Russia has been accused of committing in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.

“Recent reports of civilian killings in Bucha are deeply disturbing,” India’s Ambassador to the United Nations TS Tirumurti said before the UN Security Council on Tuesday. “We unequivocally condemn these killings and support the call for an independent investigation,” he said.

Russian forces were accused of killing and torturing as many as 300 people in Bucha before pulling out of the town. Moscow has continuously denied targeting civilians in its attacks, but photos and videos purported to show the dead bodies of civilians in Bucha have sent shockwaves across the globe, sparking fresh sanctions proposals to pressure Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine.

Intel suspends all operations in Russia

Intel has suspended all business operations in Russia a month after suspending shipments to the country and to Belarus, the company has announced.

“Intel continues to join the global community in condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine and calling for a swift return to peace,” it said in a statement Tuesday.

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The chipmaker added that it was working to support its 1,200 employees in Russia and has implemented measures to minimize disruption to its global operations.

Destroyed Russian military machinery sits on the Highway outside Borodyanka, near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Tuesday.

Situation In The Recaptured By The Ukrainian Army Borodyanka City Near Kyiv
Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Humanitarian situation worsening in Mariupol as heavy fighting continues, UK says

Heavy fighting and continued Russian airstrikes have plunged the besieged city of Mariupol deeper into a worsening humanitarian crisis, Britain’s defense ministry has warned.

in an intelligence update published Wednesday, it said, “Most of the 160,000 remaining residents have no light, communication, medicine, heat or water.”

As the situation worsens, Russian forces have prevented humanitarian access “likely to pressure defenders to surrender,” it said.

NATO foreign ministers agree in Brussels

NATO foreign ministers will convene in Brussels Wednesday to discuss how to further support Ukraine and pressure Russia to end its invasion of the country.

The summit comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an impassioned plea before the UN Security Council for more support in the fight against Russian forces.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is expected to attend part of the two-day talks. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said Kuleba will provide an update on the situation on the ground, as well as on the latest in peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators.




www.nbcnews.com

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