WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States military expects to start training Ukrainians on using howitzer artillery in coming days, a senior U.S. defense official said on Monday.
Senator Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, warned Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin "will only stop when we stop him" as he was pressed about whether the United States should send troops to support Ukraine in the ongoing war.
Russian state TV broadcast a video Monday of what it described as "Britons" captured fighting for Ukraine demanding that Prime Minister Boris Johnson negotiate their release.
The director of the C.I.A. said on Thursday that “potential desperation” to extract the semblance of a victory in Ukraine could tempt President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to order the use of a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon, publicly discussing for the first time a concern that has coursed through the White House during seven weeks of conflict.
Russia's Black Sea flagship which sank yesterday after an explosion on board may have been carrying nuclear warheads, analysts and experts have warned today, as a Russian politician said more than 400 sailors could have gone down with the ship.
On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron wouldn’t back President Biden’s claim that Russia is committing “genocide” in Ukraine. The French leader instead warned that an escalation of rhetoric wouldn’t bring peace.
On Wednesday, President Biden authorized a new $800 million weapons package for Ukraine that includes howitzers and helicopters. The announcement was made after Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who continues to plead for more arms.
“I want France to leave NATO’s unified military command. I will never agree that our troops are subordinate to the NATO command or the European command. France should return to the status in the alliance that it had from 1966 to 2009,” the French presidential candidate said.
Preventing populations from asking who benefits from a protracted proxy war, and who pays the price, is paramount. A closed propaganda system achieves that.
At a moment the Pentagon has vowed to "speed up" weapons deliveries to Ukraine forces, and after Slovakia announced early this week it is in discussion with NATO allies to provide Kiev with MiG-29 fighter jets, the Kremlin has repeated its warning that any weapons shipments entering the country will be viewed as "legitimate military targets".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not let up on his criticism of NATO and told 60 Minutes in an interview that aired Sunday that he is “no longer interested” in the military alliance’s diplomacy.
The prosecutor general of Ukraine said Monday that her office is investigating 5,800 cases of Russian war crimes, with "more and more" proceedings every day.
Defense Department press secretary John Kirby said the Pentagon was closely monitoring reports Monday evening of a possible Russian chemical weapons attack on the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
A missile hit a train station where thousands of people had flocked to flee in eastern Ukraine, killing 50 people Friday, Ukrainian authorities said, while warning they expect to find more evidence of war crimes in areas abandoned by Russian troops.
The Senate on Wednesday night passed a bill that would revive the lend-lease program for Ukraine, which was used to give weapons to the Soviet Union, China, the UK, and other US allies during World War II.
In recent weeks, US officials, including President Biden, claimed that Russia was considering using chemical weapons in Ukraine. But three US officials told NBC News this week that there is no evidence Russia had moved any chemical weapons near Ukraine and that the claims were part of an information war against Moscow.
Germany’s foreign intelligence service claims to have intercepted radio communications in which Russian soldiers discuss carrying out indiscriminate killings in Ukraine.
