Category Archives: US foreign policy

US unveils new sanctions on Russia, targeting services, media and defense industry

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New measures are primarily intended to close loopholes in existing sanctions and to tighten the noose around Russian economy

The US has unveiled a new layer of sanctions on Russia, targeting services, Russia’s propaganda machine and its defence industry on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s planned Victory Day parade.

The new measures were announced as leaders from the G7 group of industrialised democracies held a virtual summit with Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a show of solidarity.

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US intelligence told to keep quiet over role in Ukraine military triumphs

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CIA veterans advise successors against ‘unwise’ intelligence boasts that could trigger escalation from Russia

Former US intelligence officers are advising their successors currently in office to shut up and stop boasting about their role in Ukraine’s military successes.

Two stories surfaced in as many days in the American press this week, citing unnamed officials as saying that US intelligence was instrumental in the targeting of Russian generals on the battlefield and in the sinking of the Moskva flagship cruiser on the Black Sea.

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Ukraine hopes to evacuate more civilians from besieged Mariupol steelworks

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Zelenskiy said about 100 civilians evacuated after weeks sheltering in the Azovstal complex would arrive in Zaporizhzhia on Monday

Ukrainian authorities are planning to evacuate more civilians from Mariupol on Monday, after dozens were finally brought to safety following weeks trapped under heavy fire in the strategic port city’s Azovstal steel complex.

The civilians had been sheltering in bunkers beneath the steelworks that is the last redoubt for Ukrainian forces in Mariupol.

Two explosions were reported in the early hours of Monday in Belgorod, the southern Russian region bordering Ukraine. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the region’s governor, said in a social media post there were no casualties or damage. On Sunday Gladkov had said one person was injured in a fire at a Russian defence ministry facility in Belgorod, while seven homes had been damaged.

Russia’s top uniformed officer, General Valery Gerasimov, visited dangerous frontline positions in eastern Ukraine last week in a bid to reinvigorate the Russian offensive there, the New York Times has reported citing Ukrainian and US officials. The Guardian could not immediately confirm the report.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said that the county is working to prevent nuclear war, Reuters reported. In an interview with Italian TV, Lavrov said: “Western media misrepresent Russian threats. Russia has never interrupted efforts to reach agreements that guarantee that a nuclear war never develops”.

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Biden asks Congress for $33bn Ukraine aid package

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President’s request includes over $20bn in military aid, $8.5bn in economic aid to Kyiv and $3bn in humanitarian relief

Joe Biden has called for a giant $33bn package of military and economic aid to Ukraine, more than doubling the level of US assistance to date, in an emphatic rejection of Russian threats of reprisals and escalation.

A few hours after Biden spoke, Kyiv was shaken by two powerful cruise missile strikes, while the UN secretary general, António Guterres, was visiting the Ukraine capital following a meeting with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

More artillery and armored vehicles, as well as anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft systems.

Help to build up Ukraine’s cyber warfare capabilities.

More intelligence sharing.

Support to increase Ukraine’s ability to produce munitions and strategic minerals.

Assistance in clearing landmines and other explosives and in Ukraine’s defence against chemical, biological and dirty bomb attacks.

A further buildup in the US military presence on Nato’s eastern flank.

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‘We’re not attacking Russia,’ Biden says as he asks for $33bn in Ukraine aid – as it happened

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Joe Biden is also taking steps to ensure the money raised from assets seized from sanctioned allies of Vladimir Putin directly aids Ukraine.

According to a White House fact sheet about Biden’s new aid request, the administration is “proposing legislation to streamline the process to recoup proceeds from seized and forfeited assets and use them to remediate the harm caused in Ukraine”.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv rocked by missile strikes during UN chief’s visit, Ukraine responds to ‘heinous act of barbarism’ – live

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Two cruise missiles strike Ukrainian capital, injuring at least ten; officials respond to attack

More than 8,500 alleged war crimes committed by Russian troops in Ukraine are under investigation, Ukraine’s prosecutor’s office has said.

A total of 8,653 cases have been reported and 217 children have been confirmed to have been killed, the office added.

Unfortunately this is the type of step, the type of almost weaponising energy supplies that we had predicted that Russia could take in this conflict.

And we have been working for some time now, for months, with partners around the world to diversify natural gas supply to Europe to — in anticipation of and to also address near-term needs and replace volumes that would otherwise come from Russia.”

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MPs criticise ‘top-down’ approach to UK-US trade talks

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Fears grow in UK that any proposals could downgrade workers’ rights despite assurances on both sides

Britain’s trade talks with the US are moving ahead with only “minimal” input from workers, small businesses and thinktanks, according to MPs who accused the UK trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, of shielding her department from outside scrutiny.

Conservative and Labour MPs on the trade select committee also said scrutiny of a deal struck with Australia and New Zealand was in danger of being “rushed through” parliament before they could make an assessment of its impact on imports and exports to and from the Commonwealth countries.

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Trump to be fined $10,000 a day after New York judge finds him in contempt – as it happened

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A New York judge on Monday held former president Donald Trump in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena for documents in the state attorney general’s civil probe into his business practices, Reuters reports.

The decision relates to Trump’s non-compliance in a case brought by New York state attorney general Letitia James.

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US pledges extra $713m for Ukraine war effort and to weaken Russia

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Moscow complains about US military aid as Washington promises more support, including advanced weapons

Russia should be “weakened to the point where it can’t invade Ukraine”, the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said after he and the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, visited Kyiv and pledged a further $713m to help Ukraine in its war effort.

The direct comment came a few hours after the two senior US figures met with with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy – and was followed by Russia making an official diplomatic complaint about American arms supplies.

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Ukrainian cities take heavy shelling as top US officials meet Zelenskiy in Kyiv

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As Russia and Ukraine mark Orthodox Easter, Russia continues assault with Zelenskiy set to request more weapons from US

Russian forces continued heavy shelling of Ukrainian cities on Sunday as people in both countries observed Orthodox Easter and the US secretaries of state and defence made their first visit to Kyiv since the invasion.

Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv and were holding talks with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Zelenskiy, said on Sunday in a social media video.

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Saudis’ Biden snub suggests crown prince still banking on Trump’s return

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Refusal to help US punish Russia and $2bn investment in Kushner fund signal crown prince’s displeasure with Trump’s successor

Saudi Arabia appears to be banking on Donald Trump’s return to office by refusing to help the US punish Russia for the Ukraine invasion, and by placing $2bn in a new, untested investment fund run by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

In seeking to persuade Riyadh to increase oil production so as to lower prices by as much as 30%, and thereby curb Russian government revenue, the Biden administration is looking for ways to reassure the Saudi government that it is dedicated to the kingdom’s security.

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Ex-president of Honduras extradited to US on drugs charges

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Juan Orlando Hernández accused of involvement with drug cartels and related weapons charges

US Drug Enforcement Administration agents have extradited the Honduran former president Juan Orlando Hernández to New York, where he will face federal drug trafficking and weapons charges.

Honduran national police delivered a handcuffed Hernández to DEA agents at the Tegucigalpa airport just over two months after he was arrested outside his home on 15 February following an extradition request from the US Department of Justice.

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Biden announces another $800m in military aid for Ukraine: ‘We’re in a critical window’ – as it happened

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Here are some more details from the defense department on the new $800m military assistance package to Ukraine:

For those keeping track on how much the US has provided Ukraine so far in military assistance:

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US and Cuban officials to hold talks amid tensions over migration

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Cuba says US sanctions and decision to close American consular section in Havana encourage Cubans to seek riskier routes to US

American and Cuban officials are due to meet in Washington on Thursday to discuss migration concerns, people familiar with the matter said, in the highest-level formal US talks with Havana since Joe Biden took office last year.

The meeting comes at a time when Biden’s administration is grappling with rising numbers of undocumented migrants attempting to cross the US border from Mexico, with Cubans making up a growing portion of them.

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Florida judge voids national mask mandate for public transportation – as it happened

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Ruling says Covid-19 mitigation measure exceeds authority of federal health officials

Facing multiple defamation lawsuits, the far-right website InfoWars on Sunday voluntarily filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court in Texas.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy procedures put a hold on all civil litigation faced by companies that file for the protection and allows them to prepare turnaround plans while remaining operational.

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‘I think he will’: Zelenskiy hopeful President Biden will visit Ukraine

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Ukrainian president also reiterates in interview that he is not willing to cede territory in country’s east to end war with Russia

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged US president Joe Biden to visit Ukraine and reiterated that he is not willing to cede territory in the country’s east to end war with Russia, during an extended interview with CNN broadcast on Sunday.

“I think he will,” Zelenskiy said in English when asked if he was aware of any plans for a US presidential visit. “But it’s his decision, of course, and [it] depends on the safety situation, of course. But I think he’s the leader of the United States and that’s why he should come here to see.”

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Zelenskiy reportedly asks Biden to name Russia a state sponsor of terrorism – as it happened

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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made a direct request to Joe Biden that the US designates Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, the Washington Post reports.

This would be a rare and radical sanction, but Zelenskiy has been firm in putting pressure on the west to assist in Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion, and this is no exception as his country endures atrocities from its northern neighbor.

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US tells some consulate staff to leave Shanghai as Covid outbreak worsens

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State department cites risk of children and parents being separated as EU warns zero-Covid strategy eroding investor confidence

The US has said it has asked all its non-essential staff and their family members at the Shanghai consulate to leave, in Washington’s latest response to the financial hub’s handling of the worsening Covid outbreak.

The state department ordered the departure “due to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak” there, according to a spokesperson from its Beijing embassy. “It is best for our employees and their families to be reduced in number and our operations to be scaled down as we deal with the changing circumstances on the ground,” the person said on Tuesday.

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‘Fake’ US federal agent claimed ties to Pakistani intelligence, prosecutors say

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Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 35, accused of posing as homeland security officials and cultivating Secret Service access

One of two American men arrested in Washington for posing as US federal security officials and cultivating access to the Secret Service, which protects Joe Biden, claimed ties to Pakistani intelligence, a federal prosecutor told a judge.

Justice department assistant attorney Joshua Rothstein asked a judge not to release Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 35, the men arrested on Wednesday for posing as Department of Homeland Security investigators.

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Biden vows to ‘ratchet up the pain’ on Putin with new Russia sanctions – as it happened

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The US and its allies are preparing to impose new sanctions on Moscow over civilian killings in Ukraine as the west makes a fresh attempt to cripple Vladimir Putin’s economy and war effort.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the atrocities in his country as “war crimes” while Ukraine authorities said close to more than 4,400 incidents were being investigated.

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