International
Biden announces 225 million for Ukraine in a meeting with Zelenski during the NATO summit
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, announced on Thursday a new military assistance package of 225 million dollars for Ukraine during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenski, as part of the NATO summit in Washington.
“Today I am proud to announce a new set of security systems for Ukraine,” Biden and Zelenski said to the media before the meeting.
The US president explained that this is the eighth package he has authorized since Congress approved in April an aid of 61 billion dollars, which came after months of debate over the blockade of the Republicans, which caused a shortage of weapons in Ukraine.
As the Pentagon later detailed in a statement, the new military aid package includes the Patriot anti-aircraft battery that Biden already announced he would send to Ukraine two days ago, during an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Atlantic Alliance.
The shipment also contains Stinger ground-to-air missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles, both portable and widely used by Ukrainian troops, as well as different types of ammunition and equipment, among other weapons.
After Biden announced the new aid package, Zelenski expressed his gratitude, considering that it was “very strong news.”
“I am grateful to you, your team, your administration, of course, to Congress, both parties, both chambers and to all Americans for their vital and firm support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Together, we are saving lives,” said Zelenski, dressed in his characteristic military olive green clothing.
The Ukrainian president took the opportunity to mention before the cameras on Monday’s attack perpetrated by Russia against the main children’s hospital in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities, which caused at least 41 civilian casualties in the deadliest air offensive in recent months.
In connection with this attack, he thanked the sending by the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Italy of air defense systems, including the Patriot system, thus fulfilling one of Zelenski’s main requests.
In addition to anti-aircraft systems, the planned transfer of F-16 fighters for Ukraine is underway and will conclude this summer, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced yesterday.
At this NATO summit in Washington, which commemorates the 75th anniversary of the alliance, leaders have shown their unity in the long-term defense of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, on the first day, they already pledged to send at least another 40 billion euros (about 36,922 million dollars) of military support to Kiev next year and declared their integration into the organization “irreversible”, although they avoided setting a specific date and assured that it will happen when the right conditions are met.
Zelenski assured that his country’s accession to NATO is “very close,” after members of the Atlantic Alliance considered that the incorporation of Ukraine is irreversible.
“We are very close to our goal. The next step will be the invitation (to be part of NATO) and then membership,” Zelenski said at a press conference with NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, during the Alliance Summit in Washington.
The president of Ukraine admitted that his country will hardly be able to join NATO for the duration of the war with Russia, but showed confidence that the nation will “prevail” in the face of the Russian invasion.
The leaders of the Alliance showed on Wednesday their unity in the long-term defense of Ukraine, in which they pledged at least another 40 billion euros of military support for Kiev next year and said that their integration into the organization is “irreversible”.
Stoltenberg stated that “there is no doubt that Ukraine has the right to use the weapons it has received” to attack “legitimate targets,” and asked not to forget that Russia was the one who invaded Ukraine ignoring international law.
International
Trump urges Putin to reach peace deal
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his desire for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “reach a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, while also reaffirming his willingness to impose sanctions on Russia.
“I want to see him reach an agreement to prevent Russian, Ukrainian, and other people from dying,” Trump stated during a press conference in the Oval Office at the White House.
“I think he will. I don’t want to have to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil,” the Republican leader added, recalling that he had already taken similar measures against Venezuela by sanctioning buyers of the South American country’s crude oil.
Trump also reiterated his frustration over Ukraine’s resistance to an agreement that would allow the United States to exploit natural resources in the country—a condition he set in negotiations to end the war.
International
Deportation flight lands in Venezuela; government denies criminal gang links
A flight carrying 175 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Caracas on Sunday. This marks the third group to return since repatriation flights resumed a week ago, and among them is an alleged member of a criminal organization, according to Venezuelan authorities.
Unlike previous flights operated by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, this time, an aircraft from the U.S. airline Eastern landed at Maiquetía Airport, on the outskirts of Caracas, shortly after 2:00 p.m. with the deportees.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who welcomed the returnees at the airport, stated that the 175 repatriated individuals were coming back “after being subjected, like all Venezuelans, to persecution” and dismissed claims that they belonged to the criminal organization El Tren de Aragua.
However, Cabello confirmed that “for the first time in these flights we have been carrying out, someone of significance wanted by Venezuelan justice has arrived, and he is not from El Tren de Aragua.” Instead, he belongs to a gang operating in the state of Trujillo. The minister did not disclose the individual’s identity or provide details on where he would be taken.
International
Son of journalist José Rubén Zamora condemns father’s return to prison as “illegal”
The son of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, José Carlos Zamora, has denounced as “illegal” the court order that sent his father back to a Guatemalan prison on March 3, after already spending 819 days behind barsover a highly irregular money laundering case.
“My father’s return to prison was based on an arbitrary and illegal ruling. It is also alarming that the judge who had granted him house arrest received threats,” José Carlos Zamora told EFE in an interview on Saturday.
The 67-year-old journalist was sent back to prison inside the Mariscal Zavala military barracks on March 3, when Judge Erick García upheld a Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the house arrest granted to him in October. Zamora had already spent 819 days in prison over an alleged money laundering case.
His son condemned the situation as “unacceptable”, stating that the judge handling the case “cannot do his job in accordance with the law due to threats against his life.”
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