Today at 12: 15 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 11: 21 a.m. EDT
Today at 12: 15 a.m. EDT|Updated today at 11: 21 a.m. EDT
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a gathering of military leaders from 40 NATO and non-NATO countries that Russian President Vladimir Putin “never imagined that the world would rally behind Ukraine so swiftly and surely” — as the United States pledged military aid, Poland announced it would send tanks, and Germany planned to send armored antiaircraft vehicles.
In separate remarks to the group, Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered a stark picture of the next phase of the war: Russian attempts to take full control of southeastern and southern Ukraine. Milley stated that “Time is not on Ukraine’s side” in closed-door remarks to journalists who were traveling along with him. “The outcome of this battle, right here, today, is dependent on the people in this room.”
World leaders are seeking to pressure Putin, who will meet U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, to stop the war now grinding into its third month. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov tempers expectations. He describes the current state of peace negotiations with Ukraine as “dismal” and says that Moscow is open to a “negotiated solution.” Lavrov said that while the situation in Ukraine’s peace talks was “dismal,” he stated that Moscow supports a negotiated solution to the conflict.
Here’s what else to know
- Experts from the U.N. nuclear watchdog will visit the Chernobyl nuclear power plant site on Tuesday, in the first full international inspection since Russian forces occupied the area.
- The U.N. refugee agency said up that to 8.3 million people could flee Ukraine into neighboring countries — nearly double its initial projections from the first weeks of the war.
- The Pentagon said it was monitoring blasts reported in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria, which is backed by Moscow and borders Ukraine. Nobody has claimed the responsibility.
- The Washington Post has lifted its paywall for readers in Russia and Ukraine. Telegram users can subscribe to our channel for updates.
Garland: DOJ favors law to give Ukraine seized Russian assets
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday that the Justice Department would support legislation so that some assets seized from Russian oligarchs go directly to Ukraine.
Testifying at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Garland was asked what happens to the money and property that the United States seizes as part of its efforts to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine. Last month, the Justice Department declared that it would be intensifying its efforts to crack down on Russian oligarchs. It had created Task Force KleptoCapture to enforce U.S. sanction and seize assets of those who are targeted.
Right now, Garland said, any money or property that is seized goes into the department’s Assets Forfeiture Fund, a pot of money that is used to pay for certain investigative expenses and manage seized assets, such as paying the mortgage on a home.
“We would support legislation that would allow some of that money to go directly to Ukraine,” he said, adding, “That’s not the current circumstance with respect to the fund.”
Even if Congress were to pass legislation, it could be many months — or even years — before Ukraine actually sees money from the effort. To have property forfeited to America after the department has taken possession of it, the process is often lengthy. government.
The Justice Department, for example, moved earlier this month with Spanish authorities to seize a 255-foot luxury yacht owned by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg. Officials said that the first asset seizure by the task force of a sanctioned person with close connections to Russia was made in Mallorca. The yacht must still be forfeited by the court.
‘Abnormal’ radioactivity levels found at Chernobyl, atomic watchdog chief says
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said regulators found “abnormal” radioactivity levels during a visit to the Chernobyl nuclear plant site on Tuesday, the 36th anniversary of the fire that destroyed one of the reactors there and triggered one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.
The anniversary was also marked by two low-flying missiles that came from the Black Sea and flew over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power complex, the largest of Ukraine’s four nuclear plants, before landing in the town of Zaporizhzhia, according to Petro Kotin, president of Energoatom, the national nuclear power enterprise.
Kotin said that was the third time in 10 days that missiles had flown close to nuclear energy reactors. Belarus had supplied the earlier missiles.
“This is forbidden by international and Ukrainian law,” he said. “There is a no-fly zone above nuclear power plant sites.”
Congress must fund State Department to defeat Russia in Ukraine, Blinken says
Congress must fully fund the State Department to ensure that Russia fails in Ukraine and that other nations are dissuaded from bullying their neighbors in the same way, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a Senate panel Tuesday.
The top U.S. diplomat said the work of the State Department in pressuring allies to supply weapons shipments to Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia sends a message that the international community will defend the sovereignty of vulnerable nations.
“Fully funding” the State Department “is critical in my judgment to ensuring Russia’s war in Ukraine is a strategic failure for the Kremlin and serves as a powerful lesson to those who might consider following its path,” Blinken told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
U.S. Diplomats have called on European countries to support Ukraine’s military and political efforts and helped to rebuild their weapons stockpiles to help them defend themselves. Blinken stated that “our diplomacy is mobilizing allies, partners around the globe to support Ukraine.”
The Biden administration is requesting a $60.4 billion budget for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development for fiscal 2023 — a 3 percent increase from this year’s request.
The invasion of Ukraine has prompted a flurry of activity between U.S. diplomats and European counterparts, but the State Department has been much less involved in direct diplomacy with Russia. Since the outbreak of hostilities, Blinken hasn’t spoken with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. Contact between Moscow and Washington is not at a high level, but between John Sullivan (the U.S. Ambassador to Russia) and his counterpart.
Blinken just returned to Washington from a visit to Kyiv, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Blinken mentioned that he witnessed signs of life returning to the city, such as people sitting outside on benches or walking, and that he was able to reflect on his trip.
“It was right in front of us. He said that the Ukrainians had won the fight for Kyiv.
Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez (N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Blinken’s trip sent a powerful message of support to Ukraine. “We salute you for that visit,” Menendez said.
Sen. James E. Risch (Idaho), the top Republican on the panel, also praised the visit but said the United States needs to provide more “sophisticated” weapons to Kyiv, including “medium-range air defense systems and anti-ship cruise missiles, among other things.”
U.S. monitoring blasts reported in Moldova breakaway region bordering Ukraine
The United States is monitoring events in the Eastern European country of Moldova, the Pentagon said Tuesday, after the breakaway republic of Transnistria bordering Ukraine said explosions over the past two days hit a radio center and a security headquarters.
The reports of explosions could stoke fears about the scope of Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine, and they prompted Moldova’s president to convene a meeting of the country’s security council as she vowed to prevent an escalation.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told CNN in an interview Tuesday it was too soon “to know exactly what happened here, who’s responsible” for the apparent explosions. “We’re watching this as best we can.”
A Russian military commander said Sunday that one goal of the war in Ukraine was to establish a southern corridor to Transnistria — a strip of land with a population of nearly 500,000 that is backed by Moscow and hosts Russian troops.
The Ukraine war through the eyes of Ukrainian and Russian New Yorkers
The New York region is home to a quarter of the Ukrainian and Russian immigrants in the United States.
And over the past two months, many members of these communities have been glued to the television and social media, watching the war in Ukraine unfold. Many Ukrainian Americans are terrified for their family and friends, and desperate to help. Russian Americans are shocked by the violence in Ukraine and anxious about what will happen to their country.
We interviewed several people about the crisis and how it affects their community.
Lavrov says peace talks with Ukraine are ‘dismal’
By Mary Ilyushina9: 53 a.m.
Russia on Tuesday dismissed an offer from Ukrainian officials to hold peace negotiations in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and said it was premature to talk about engaging mediators in any talks.
“I’ve heard about a theatrically presented proposal of the Ukrainian negotiations team. After talks in Moscow with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia would hold another round in Mariupol near Azovstal’s walls.
The Russian military has claimed that it has captured Mariupol, but Ukrainian troops are still holding ground at the Azovstal steelworks.
“What can I say, this is a theatrical gesture. Ukrainians love to make things dramatic and they were looking for another scene. But if we are talking seriously about working on the negotiations track, they better respond to our proposals that we sent more than 10 days ago, but it turned out Zelensky has not heard about,” Lavrov added.
Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukrainian presidential adviser and top negotiator, said nearly a week ago that Ukraine received “counter positions” from Russia and is studying them.
Speaking Tuesday, Lavrov said Moscow supports “a negotiated solution” but signaled Russia is growing less enthusiastic about the peace talks, describing their current state as “dismal.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday, after a brief trip to Kyiv with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the United States hopes the war in Ukraine will result in a “weakened” Russia that no longer has the capacity to invade its neighbors.
Guterres visited Moscow as part of his first official trip to Russia since the invasion began more than two months ago.
In a meeting with Lavrov, the United Nations leader pleaded for a cease-fire in Ukraine “as soon as possible” and proposed to set up an U.N.-Russia-Ukraine contact group to address humanitarian matters in Ukraine.
Guterres will also meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Guterres will also meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian evacuation offer for Azovstal was a ‘trap,’ Ukrainian official says
An aide to the mayor of Mariupol accused Russia of setting a “trap” with its offer of evacuation for civilians holed up inside the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works.
Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to Mariupol’s mayor, said Tuesday on Telegram that the ” ‘Green Corridor’ for Azovstal was another trap.” He accused Russia of continuing to shell the plant after announcing that its troops would stand down to allow civilians to leave in any direction from 2 p.m. local time on Monday.
Andryushchenko said Russians played a message from speakers on armored vehicles asking those inside the Azovstal complex to surrender and offering them “10 to 15 minutes” to leave. After “a short break,” he said “artillery shelling is carried out in the residential area, within the boundaries of the conditional exit from Azovstal.”
The Azov Regiment, a nationalist group that is part of Ukraine’s national guard and whose fighters are among those making a last stand inside Azovstal, said early Tuesday that the plant “continues to be covered by enemy fire.”
“In the past 24 hours alone, 35 airstrikes were carried out, during which one of the shops caught fire,” Azov’s Mariupol unit said on Telegram. “But most importantly, they affected civilians who are now trapped.”
Photos taken by Reuters showed a thick cloud of black smoke emanating from the plant on Monday. Andryushchenko said the smoke was caused by Russian bombing.
As reports of attacks against the plant continued to emerge, the mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, told Ukrainian state television on Tuesday that the fighters and civilians sheltering inside are running out of food and water. He called it “a humanitarian catastrophe.”
“The situation in the city of Mariupol remains very difficult,” Boychenko said. “For the evacuation to begin … there needs to be … a cease-fire, but unfortunately there isn’t one.”
Thousands of civilians have left Mariupol since the start of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, but Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of shelling evacuation routes and trapping many residents. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that about 120,000 people remain in Mariupol.
Boychenko accused Russia of committing war crimes in his city and of trying to “hide them in mass graves.” He said more than 20,000 residents of Mariupol have died in the fighting. The Washington Post was unable to confirm this number. The U.N. refugee agency, which issues daily reports on confirmed but incomplete casualty numbers in Ukraine, does not corroborate figures in Mariupol because of the “intense hostilities” on the ground, although it acknowledges “allegations of numerous civilian casualties” there.
Putin’s alleged mistress is possible U.S. sanctions target
Alina Kabaeva, a famed Russian gymnast turned apparent romantic partner of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is a potential target for sanctions, the Biden administration said, after questions were raised this week about the lack of penalties against her.
“No one is safe from our sanctions,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday, after the Wall Street Journal reported that the United States had made an “11th-hour decision” to remove Kabaeva from a set of new sanctions.
“There’s more we will likely do,” Psaki said.
Since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the United States has sanctioned Putin, his associates and even two of his daughters. President Biden also said last month — before the White House backtracked on his remark — that Putin “cannot remain in power.”
Video: Russia’s foreign minister says there are ‘serious’ risks of nuclear war
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview Monday that there is a “serious” risk of nuclear war over Ukraine. The danger is real, serious. On Russian state TV, Lavrov stated that it should not be underestimated. Lavrov said that NATO’s support for Ukraine (including the supplying of arms) was a proxy war against Russia. He said, “War is war.” On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, during an interview with CNN, criticized Lavrov’s comments on nuclear war and said the United States had not changed its nuclear-deterrence posture.
U.S. launches plan to resettle Ukrainian refugees
A Biden administration program to welcome Ukrainian refugees in the United States went live Monday, an initiative the White House says will streamline the process to resettle up to 100,000 displaced Ukrainians.
The Uniting for Ukraine plan allows U.S.-based individuals and organizations to sponsor Ukrainian refugees for up to a two-year stay in America. The Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency tasked with overseeing the resettlement program, will vet potential sponsors to ensure they demonstrate financial capability and pose no threat to the refugees. DHS approves Ukrainians to live in America and allow them to work.
Under the program, Ukrainians must present valid visas to pass through ports of entry. Ukrainian refugees are discouraged from entering the United States via land crossings with Mexico — a channel that has shuttled some 15,000 people.
Russia’s invasion, which began more than two months ago, has resulted in the displacement of over 5 million Ukrainians, leading to one of the fastest-growing refugee crises in modern European history.
Metropolitan Opera, Polish National Opera to host tour for Ukrainian artists
New York’s Metropolitan Opera and the Polish National Opera will organize an orchestra tour this summer that will include Ukrainian musicians to raise funds for the nation’s artists. After its opening performance in Warsaw on July 28, the group is expected to travel across Europe to cities including Munich and Amsterdam before concluding its tour at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The tour is being organized as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters a new protracted stage. More than 5,000,000 civilians fled Ukraine after Russian bombings decimated the cities of southern and eastern Ukraine. Amid the destruction, Ukrainian artists have sought to lift people’s spirits with music.
“Music can be a powerful weapon against oppression,” said a joint statement from Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, and Waldemar Dabrowski, director of the Teatr Wielki. “This tour is meant to defend Ukrainian art and its brave artists as they fight for the freedom of their country.”
After hesitancy, Germany greenlights some heavy arms for Ukraine
Then it was accused of scrubbing such items from a German arms industry list of what was available for Kyiv. Berlin has since proposed sending some Marders after all, but to Slovenia, so that country can in turn send its old Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine. Germany now claims it wants to ship anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine.
“It’s a complete contradiction,” Roderich Kiesewetter, a lawmaker with the conservative Christian Democrats, said of the government’s various statements on sending heavy arms.
As defense leaders from more than 40 countries meet at the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Tuesday to synchronize efforts to provide military aid to Ukraine, Berlin has been still struggling to synchronize the position of its own government.
Ukrainian forces bracing for possible attack on Zaporizhzhia, U.K. says
Ukrainian forces in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia are preparing for a “potential Russian attack from the south,” according to an intelligence update from the British Defense Ministry.
The industrial hub has been a safe haven for thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the besieged port city of Mariupol and other parts of the country.
However, Russia controls areas to its south, including the city of Kherson and large parts of the wider Zaporizhzhia region, where there has been “widespread Ukrainian resistance” to Russia’s occupation, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
Trenches are being dug around the city, and teachers are being trained to use guns and administer first aid, the Guardian newspaper reported.
Russia ‘closely watching’ as Transnistria region raises threat level
Moscow said Tuesday it was “very closely watching” developments in Transnistria as the breakaway republic in eastern Moldova reported several explosions and raised its security threat level.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were no plans for contacts between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Moldovan counterpart, Maia Sandu, but he described the reports of blasts as worrying. He said that no contact was being planned at the moment. The only thing that I can tell you is that we’re closely monitoring the developments there. Of course, news from there causes concern.”
Moldova’s president convened a meeting of the country’s security council Tuesday after the Internal Affairs Ministry in Transnistria said explosions hit a radio center and a security agency building in the breakaway region that borders Ukraine.
The security council in Transnistria, which is backed by Moscow, also met and declared “a red terrorism alert level,” according to the Interfax news agency. According to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, the council discussed tightening security and reported another attack against a military unit in the vicinity of Parcani. However, details about the third incident remain unclear.
A Russian military commander said Sunday that one goal of the war in Ukraine was to establish a corridor through the south to Transnistria. Russia was rebuffed by Moldova over these comments. The Transnistria region, which has a population of nearly 500,000, is not recognized as independent but operates separately from Moldova.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosions in Transnistria, but the Ukrainian Defense Ministry called Monday’s blasts a “planned provocation by the Russian special services.”
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said America was watching events in Moldova but that it was too soon to comment on the explosions, according to quotes carried by Reuters.
