Biden visits Zelensky in Kyiv and says Putin 'dead wrong' on Ukraine war - BBC

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By James Waterhouse, Alice Cuddy and Kathryn Armstrong

in Kyiv & London

The US will back Ukraine in its fight against Russia for "as long as it takes" President Joe Biden said as he made an unannounced and symbolic visit to the capital, Kyiv.

"We have every confidence you're going to continue to prevail," he said.

Mr Biden's first trip to Ukraine as president came days before the first anniversary of Russia's invasion.

He said President Putin had been "dead wrong" to think Russia could outlast Ukraine and its Western allies.

He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the pair visited a memorial to soldiers who have died in the nine years since Russia annexed Crimea and its proxy forces captured parts of the eastern Donbas region.

Mr Biden's presence was intended to reaffirm America's "unwavering commitment to Ukraine's democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity", according to a White House statement.

The New York Times reported that he took a 10-hour train journey from Poland to reach Kyiv.

He left Ukraine on Monday to travel to Poland.

After the visit, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new package of security assistance for Ukraine valued at $450m (£373m), including ammunition for howitzers and the Himars rocket system, Javelin missiles, and air surveillance radars.

The US will also provide Kyiv with an extra $10m (£8.3m) in emergency assistance "to keep Ukraine's energy infrastructure up and running", Mr Blinken said.

A new wave of sanctions against individuals and companies "that are trying to evade or backfill Russia's war machine" will also be announced later this week.

Mr Zelensky said: "The results of this visit will surely be seen and will surely be reflected on the battlefield in liberating our territories."

• LIVE: Zelensky hails 'historic' day
• China might give Russia weapons and ammo, US warns

He also said that the two leaders had discussed the possibility of sending other weapons that so far had not been supplied.

Mr Zelensky has repeatedly called for F-16 fighter jets, something the US and other allies have so far stopped short of approving.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan - who was among President Biden's entourage - said the US notified Russia about the trip a few hours before President Biden's departure for "deconfliction purposes".

He refused to comment on how Moscow had responded to the news.

White House officials said planning for the trip had been happening for "months", and that a final decision to travel was made on Friday.

In a scene that added drama to the most high-profile visit to Ukraine since the war began, air raid sirens wailed while President Biden and Mr Zelensky were in St Michael's Cathedral in central Kyiv. The sirens sound regularly in Kyiv.

Reuters

While other world leaders have visited Ukraine over the past year, the US president's appearance in the capital during a war in which American soldiers aren't fighting is a show of unity at a time when Russia says Western support for Ukraine is waning.

The visit was welcomed by Ukrainians in Kyiv.

"I'm so grateful for his support - it means so much to us," Roksoliana Gera told the BBC.

"I appreciate his courage, that he took on this challenge and came to show the support of the American nation."

Oleksandra Soloviova said the visit was an "important sign for the whole world".

"For Russia first of all, it shows the US supports us and will continue supporting us, with sanctions and military equipment," she said.

The Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said that the visit had been strategic as well as historic. "Many issues are being solved and those that have stalled will be accelerated," he said.

The US is one of Ukraine's biggest allies and has so far announced $24.9bn (£20.6bn) in military assistance, according to the US state department.

In January, Mr Biden announced that the US would send 31 battle tanks and longer-range missiles are also on their way.

However, there is a growing political divide in the US over the amount of aid Kyiv should receive in future.

President Biden's visit to Kyiv comes ahead of a three-day visit to Poland.

There he will meet with the country's President, Andrzej Duda, and with Eastern European members of the Nato military alliance.

Related Topics

• Russia-Ukraine war
• Volodymyr Zelensky
• United States
• Ukraine
• Poland
• Joe Biden

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2023-02-20 16:29:20Z
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Dozens dead as flooding and landslides hit carnival revellers in Brazil - The Independent

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Heavy rain triggered floods and landslides in Brazil, killing at least 36 people and casting a pall over the country’s annual carnival festivities.

The hardest-hit regions – Sao Sebastiao, Ubatuba, Ilhabela and Bertioga – had to abruptly cancel public parades in order to rescue survivors.

Pictures from some of the worst-hit areas showed entire neighbourhoods inundated in water with only roofs visible of some houses, while highways and roads remained cut off with fallen trees.

A road that connects Rio de Janeiro to the city of Santos was cut off after landslides and floodwaters.

Residents and rescue workers are bracing for heavy rains that will continue to lash Sao Paulo’s coastal area, leading to challenging evacuations and rescue and relief work.

Sao Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, has declared a 180-day state of emergency for its six cities after what experts described as an “unprecedented, extreme weather event”.

Authorities said 600mm (23.6 inches) of rain fell in one day.

Felipe Augusto, the mayor of San Sebastiao, which is 200km (120 miles) north of Sao Paulo, confirmed 23 deaths as of Monday.

“We have not yet gauged the scale of the damage. We are trying to rescue the victims,” said Mr Augusto, describing the situation as “extremely critical”.

“We are working at nearly 50 residences that collapsed under the force of the water and there are still people buried,” he told Globo news.

Sao Paulo governor Tarcisio de Freitas said he has requested military support and is scheduled to meet federal officials to coordinate the response.

In the port city of Santos, rescue attempts were interrupted by wind gusts exceeding 55kpm and waves of more than one metre high.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was on holiday, spending the carnival in Bahia state in Brazil’s northeast, was expected to visit the main affected areas.

“We are going to bring together all levels of government and, with the solidarity of society, treat the wounded, look for the missing, restore highways, power connections and telecommunications in the region. My condolences to the families who lost loved ones in this tragedy,” he said.

He added that the federal government has mobilised the army to join the search and rescue efforts.

Rio de Janeiro’s famously colorful carnival celebration returned in full force this month after Covid and is expected to generate nearly $1bn in business.

The streets of Brazil’s second-largest city play host to the free and wildly hedonistic parties, known as blocos, while the traditional samba schools parade through the city’s Marques de Sapucai Sambadrome.

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2023-02-20 14:53:55Z
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China slams Blinken’s comments on Russia-Ukraine war - Al Jazeera English

China says it will not accept US ‘pointing fingers’ after Blinken said Beijing is considering providing arms to Russia.

Beijing has strongly denied US claims that China was considering arming Russia in its war against Ukraine, as it reiterated a call for dialogue to end the conflict.

A Chinese spokesperson said the US is in no position to make demands after US top diplomat Anthony Blinken warned Beijing against providing weapons to Russia in the war against Ukraine.

Speaking at a regular briefing on Monday, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China “will never accept the US pointing fingers at Sino-Russian relations or even coercing us”.

His comment comes after Blinken expressed “deep concerns” about the “possibility that China will provide lethal material support to Russia”.

“To date, we have seen Chinese companies … provide non-lethal support to Russia for use in Ukraine. The concern that we have now is based on information we have that they’re considering providing lethal support,” Blinken told CBS News after he met China’s foreign minister Wang Yi on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference.

Wang Wenbin said the US was “in no position to make demands of China”.

He also pointed to Beijing’s “collaborative partnership” with Moscow which he said was built on the basis of non-alignment and non-confrontation.

On the back of Blinken’s remarks, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Monday that China potentially providing arms to Moscow “would be a red line” in the bloc’s relationship with China.

Borrell said he expressed his “strong concern” to Wang Yi and asked him to refrain from arms deliveries to Russia.

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi was due in Moscow later on Monday for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In February last year, shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine, China promised a “no limits” partnership with Russia, which set off alarm bells in the West.

China has refrained from condemning the war or calling it an “invasion”, blaming the US and NATO for provoking the Kremlin. It has also blasted the sanctions imposed on Russia.

Since the war started, Beijing and Moscow economic links have boomed as Moscow’s connections with the West have shrivelled.

The West has criticised China’s response to the Ukraine war, with some warning that a Russian victory would colour China’s actions towards Taiwan.

Relations between the United States and China have further deteriorated since Washington said China flew a spy balloon over the country before US fighter jets shot it down on President Joe Biden’s orders.

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2023-02-20 11:46:52Z
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North Korea fires more missiles as Kim's sister issues Pacific 'firing range' threat - Evening Standard

N

orth Korea launched two more ballistic missiles off its east coast on Monday, as the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un warned the reclusive nuclear state could turn the Pacific into a “firing range”.

The launches come just two days after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the sea off Japan’s west coast, prompting the United States to hold joint air exercises with South Korea and separately with Japan on Sunday.

North Korea’s state media confirmed it fired two projectiles from a multiple rocket launcher, aiming at targets 395 km (245 miles) and 337 km (209 miles) away, respectively.

“The 600mm multiple rocket launcher mobilised in the firing... is a means of tactical nuclear weapon,” capable of “paralysing” an enemy airfield, state news agency KCNA said.

Japan’s Defence Ministry said the two missiles, launched around 10pm, reached a maximum altitude of about 100km and 50km, and fell outside Japan’s EEZ (exclusive economic zone).

Read More

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he had requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting over the tests. Jiji news agency said the gathering was set for 8pm GMT on Monday.

But prospects for a new round of U.N. sanctions appear slim given the previous vetoes by Russia and China amid the Ukraine crisis and a Sino-U.S. feud over Chinese balloons found in the American skies.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff strongly condemned the launches as a “grave provocation” that should be ceased immediately.

Seoul’s foreign ministry announced sanctions on four individuals and five entities linked to Pyongyang’s weapons programmes on Monday over the latest ICBM and missile tests, in what it called its fastest-ever such response to the North’s provocations.

“Our government has made it clear that North Korea’s provocations will definitely come at a price. Its repeated provocations will result in strengthening South Korea-U.S. deterrence and tightening the global sanctions network,” the ministry said in a statement.

The US Indo-Pacific Command said the latest launch did not pose an immediate threat but highlighted the “destabilising impact” of North Korea’s unlawful weapons programmes.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric urged Pyongyang to “immediately desist from taking any further provocative actions” banned under Security Council resolutions, and resume denuclearisation dialogue.

North Korean leader Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, warned against increased presence of US strategic military assets following the joint air drills with its Asian allies over the weekend.

“The frequency of using the Pacific as our firing range depends upon the US forces’ action character,” she said in a statement carried by KCNA.

The United States and South Korea are set to hold simulated nuclear tabletop exercises aimed at improving operations of American nuclear assets this week, as well as annual springtime Freedom Shield field training in March.

Pyongyang’s foreign ministry said last week it would respond to the planned exercises with “unprecedentedly persistent, strong counteractions.”

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2023-02-20 06:52:43Z
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US warns China not to supply lethal aid to Russia - Financial Times

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2023-02-19 13:10:02Z
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Munich Conference Winds Down As Allies Pledge To Support Ukraine 'As Long As It Takes' - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Russia continued its missile and drone attacks against Ukrainian military and civilian sites on February 18 while top U.S. officials accused Moscow of "crimes against humanity" in the war and said Russian forces had suffered 200,000 casualties as the conflict neared the one-year anniversary.

At least two civilians were wounded and the windows of several homes shattered in the city of Khmelnytskiy in western Ukraine on February 18, as Russia launched missiles from the Black Sea, Ukrainian authorities said.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

At the same time, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, said the United States has concluded that Russia committed "crimes against humanity" in its unprovoked war against Ukraine, with its forces having pursued "widespread and systemic" attacks against civilians in the country.

Also in Munich, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said U.S. experts have calculated that Russia has suffered about 200,000 killed or wounded in the war and that more than 1 million Russians "have left their country because they do not want to be part of this war and the direction that the country is being taken."

"Look at what has happened, what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has done to his own country," Blinken added.

Battlefield claims, including casualty figures on both sides, have been difficult to verify in the war that began with Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022.

On February 18, Ukraine's air force said its air defenses shot down two of the four Kalibr missiles Russia fired from the Black Sea.

According to Oleksandr Symchyshyn, the mayor of Khmelnytskiy, two explosions were heard in the city, which lies 274 kilometers west of the capital, Kyiv.

"There are three damaged educational institutions and around 10 damaged high-rise apartment blocks. Around 500 windows and balconies have been destroyed," he told Ukraine's national television.

Ukraine's state nuclear company said on February 18 that two Russian cruise missiles flew close to the South Ukraine nuclear plant.

Ukraine briefly issued air-raid alerts nationwide in the morning on February 18 amid the threat of a fresh round of Russian strikes. The sirens went off in all regions with the exception of Kharkiv, Sumy, and Poltava. Most of the alerts were lifted shortly afterward.

The Russian military launched 41 missile strikes on Ukraine during the night on February 16 and Ukrainian air-defense forces shot down 16 of the missiles, according to the General Staff of Ukraine's military.

Russia has launched repeated waves of strikes on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, especially on its energy facilities, since early October, at times leaving millions of people without electricity, heating, and water supplies during the cold winter.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on February 18 that its forces had captured Hryanykivka, a village in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, after an offensive push. The claim cannot be independently verified.

Ukraine's General Staff had said in a briefing note earlier in the day that Hrianykivka was being shelled, but it made no mention of a Russian assault.

Much of the discussions at the Munich Security Conference centered on the war in Ukraine and talks of possible increased Western aid to Kyiv.

In her comments, Harris accused Russian forces of "gruesome acts of murder, torture, rape, and deportation, execution-style killings, beatings, and electrocution."

"I say to all those who have perpetrated these crimes and to their superiors who are complicit in these crimes: You will be held to account.... Justice must be served," Harris said.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

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2023-02-19 13:34:02Z
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China may give Russia weapons for Ukraine war, Anthony Blinken warns - BBC

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By Samuel Horti in London and James Landale in Munich

BBC News

China is considering giving Russia weapons and ammunition for the Ukraine war, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has said.

Mr Blinken told CBS News that Chinese companies were already providing "non-lethal support" to Russia - and new information suggested Beijing could provide "lethal support".

This escalation would mean "serious consequences" for China, he warned.

China has denied reports that Moscow has requested military equipment.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and is yet to condemn Russia's invasion - but he has sought to remain neutral in the conflict and has called for peace.

Mr Blinken was speaking to CBS after he met China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference.

He said that during the meeting he expressed "deep concerns" about the "possibility that China will provide lethal material support to Russia".

"To date, we have seen Chinese companies... provide non-lethal support to Russia for use in Ukraine. The concern that we have now is based on information we have that they're considering providing lethal support," he said.

He did not elaborate on what information the US had received about China's potential plans. When pressed on what the US believed China might give to Russia, he said it would be primarily weapons as well as ammunition.

The US has sanctioned a Chinese company for allegedly providing satellite imagery of Ukraine to the mercenary Wagner Group, which supplies Russia with thousands of fighters.

Mr Blinken told CBS that "of course, in China, there's really no distinction between private companies and the state".

• What support is China offering Russia?
• What weapons are being supplied to Ukraine?
• What is Russia's Wagner Group of mercenaries?

If China provided Russia with weapons, that would cause a "serious problem for us and in our relationship", he added.

Relations between Washington and Beijing were already poor after the US shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon in early February. Both sides exchanged angry words, but equally both sides appeared embarrassed by the incident and seemed ready to move on.

But if China were to deliver weapons to help Russian forces in Ukraine, then US-Chinese relations would deteriorate much more severely.

Mr Blinken's warning seems to be clearly designed to deter China from doing that.

Mr Blinken also said the US was worried about China helping Russia evade Western sanctions designed to cripple Russia's economy. China's trade with Russia has been growing, and it is one of the biggest markets for Russian oil, gas, and coal.

Nato members, including the US, are sending a variety of weapons, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine, including tanks. They have stopped short of sending fighter jets, and Mr Blinken would not be drawn on whether the US would help other countries supply jets.

"We've been very clear that we shouldn't fixate or focus on any particular weapons system," he said.

He did, however, say that the West must ensure Ukraine had what it needed for a potential counter offensive against Russia "in the months ahead". Russia is currently trying to advance in eastern regions of Ukraine, where some of the fiercest fighting of the war has taken place.

Mr Wang said in Munich yesterday that China had "neither stood by idly nor thrown fuel on the fire" for the Ukraine war, Reuters reported.

Getty Images

China would publish a document that laid out its position on settling the conflict, Mr Wang said. The document would state that the territorial integrity of all countries must be respected, he said.

"I suggest that everybody starts to think calmly, especially friends in Europe, about what kind of efforts we can make to stop this war," Mr Wang said.

He added that there were "some forces that seemingly don't want negotiations to succeed, or for the war to end soon", but did not say who he meant.

The Chinese President, Mr Xi, is scheduled to deliver a "peace speech" on the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Friday, 24 February, according to Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani.

Mr Tajani told Italian radio that Mr Xi's speech would call for peace without condemning Russia, Reuters reported.

During their meeting, Mr Blinken and Mr Wang also exchanged strong words on the deepening row over an alleged Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over the US.

Mr Blinken said during the meeting that the US would not "stand for any violation of our sovereignty" and said "this irresponsible act must never again occur".

Mr Blinken told CBS that other nations were concerned about what he called China's "surveillance balloon program" across five continents.

Mr Wang, meanwhile, called the episode a "political farce manufactured by the US" and accused them of "using all means to block and suppress China". China has denied sending a spy balloon.

And on Sunday morning, Beijing warned that the US would "bear all the consequences" if it escalated the argument over the balloon. China would "follow through to the end" in the event "the US insists on taking advantage of the issue", it said in a foreign ministry statement reported by Reuters.

The full interview with CBS - the BBC's US broadcasting partner - is due to air on Sunday.

Related Topics

• Russia-Ukraine war
• Xi Jinping
• Antony Blinken
• China
• Russia

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2023-02-19 10:41:38Z
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