President Joe Biden will embark on a multi-day trip to Europe starting Wednesday to meet with allies about the ongoing response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including military assistance for Ukraine and new sanctions on Russia.
Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, said Biden is working on long-term efforts to boost defenses in Eastern Europe and reduce the continent’s reliance on Russian energy.
Meanwhile in Ukraine, Russian ground forces remain largely stalled and the Russian military has lost more than 10% of the combat force that President Vladimir Putin sent to invade Ukraine, said a senior Pentagon official — who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe intelligence assessments.
Despite the military setbacks, the invasion has caused sprawling humanitarian challenges. Millions of refugees have fled the fighting, mostly by crossing the border into Poland, and the war has jeopardized Ukraine’s wheat and barley harvests, increasing the possibility of rising hunger in impoverished areas around the globe.
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Latest developments
►In a nightly address to the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 100,000 civilians remained in the port city of Mariupol, which also came under naval attack after weeks of air and land strikes.
►The United Nations on Wednesday will now face three resolutions on the worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine after Russia decided to call for a vote on its Security Council resolution which makes no mention of Russian aggression against its smaller neighbor.
►Romania’s defense ministry said late Tuesday that the country’s air force intercepted and escorted a civilian Turkish Airline flight that was traveling from Moscow to Istanbul after a bomb scare had been received by aviation traffic authorities.
Ukraine says Russia seized relief workers in Mariupol convoy
Ukrainian leaders accused Russia of seizing 15 rescue workers and drivers from a humanitarian convoy trying to get desperately needed food and other supplies into the bloodied port city of Mariupol, which also came under naval attack after weeks of air and land strikes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy estimated that 100,000 civilians remained in Mariupol, scene of some of the war’s worst devastation, as Russia presses a nearly month-old offensive by bombarding cities and towns. Those made it out described a shattered city.
“They bombed us for the past 20 days,” said 39-year-old Viktoria Totsen, who fled into Poland. “During the last five days, the planes were flying over us every five seconds and dropped bombs everywhere — on residential buildings, kindergartens, art schools, everywhere.”
Zelenskyy, speaking Tuesday in his nightly video address to his nation, accused Russian forces of blocking the aid convoy despite agreeing to the route ahead of time.
“We are trying to organize stable humanitarian corridors for Mariupol residents, but almost all of our attempts, unfortunately, are foiled by the Russian occupiers, by shelling or deliberate terror,” Zelenskyy said.
— Associated Press
Biden leaves for Europe
President Joe Biden is traveling Wednesday to Europe, where on Thursday he will meet with NATO leaders in Brussels to coordinate a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday’s meeting will provide “yet another platform to demonstrate our unity, our support to Ukraine, but also our readiness to protect and defend all NATO allies.”
On Friday, Biden will be in Poland and will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda. Poland has taken in more than a million of the 3 million Ukrainians who have been displaced since Russia’s invasion began last month.
Biden will discuss with Duda how the U.S. and others are responding to the humanitarian and human rights crisis, according to the White House. Poland has proposed the creation of a peacekeeping force, but officials said they do not know if NATO is yet willing to take such provocative action.
— Maureen Groppe
Ukrainian agency: Russian forces destroyed laboratory at Chernobyl
A laboratory at the Chernobyl nuclear plant that works to improve the management of radioactive waste was destroyed, according to the Ukrainian agency in charge of the area surrounding the plant on Tuesday.
The laboratory contained “highly active samples and samples of radionuclides that are now in the hands of the enemy, which we hope will harm itself and not the civilized world,” the agency said in its statement.
Ukraine’s nuclear regulatory agency also said Monday that radiation monitors around the plant had stopped working.
Russia seized control of Chernobyl early on in its invasion of Ukraine, along with the Zaporizhzhia plant. Chernobyl is the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986 when a reactor exploded. The exclusion zone is the contaminated area around the plant.
Putin won’t rule out using nuclear weapons, spokesperson says
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not ruled out the possibility of using nuclear weapons in the nearly four-week-long war with Ukraine, his longtime spokesman said Tuesday in a CNN interview.
Asked by CNN’s chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour, whether he’s convinced Putin won’t take that drastic step, press secretary Dmitry Peskov declined to dismiss that option.
“Well, we have a concept of domestic security, and, well, it’s public,” Peskov responded. “You can read all the reasons for nuclear arms to be used. So, if it is an existential threat for our country, then it can be used, in accordance with our concept.”
It’s not the first time a high-ranking Russian official has dangled a nuclear threat, likely to sow fear among adversaries. Three days after launching the Ukraine invasion Feb. 24, Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces put on high alert in response to tough sanctions from the West.
Contributing: The Associated Press