Russia-Ukraine live news: Biden to meet NATO chief | Russia-Ukraine war News
- US President Joe Biden is expected to meet NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House on Thursday.
- Washington announces a new $700m military aid package for Kyiv that includes High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.
- Germany says it will supply Ukraine with up-to-date anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems.
- Luhansk’s regional governor says civilians are sheltering under a chemical plant in Severodonetsk as Russian forces advance on the key city in eastern Ukraine.
Here are all the latest updates:
Biden to meet NATO secretary-general at White House
Biden and his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will meet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House on Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has said.
Stoltenberg told reporters after a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he would convene a meeting in Brussels in the coming days with senior officials from Sweden, Finland and Turkey to discuss Turkey’s opposition to Sweden and Finland joining the alliance.
Denmark looks set to join EU defence policy
Denmark will join the European Union’s defence policy after a referendum, public broadcaster DR has projected.
Preliminary results by DR showed 66.6 percent of voters were in favour of removing an opt-out to the EU’s so-called Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Denmark is the only EU member that is not part of the policy, after the country secured several exemptions in a 1993 referendum.
“It is a completely new approach to Europe, that we are signalling to our European allies, to the whole world,” said former foreign minister and member of the Social Liberal Party, Martin Lidegaard.
“It can hardly be overestimated, the importance it has on our foreign and European policy,” Lidegaard said.
Ukrainians shelter under chemical plant from Russian shelling: Governor
A number of civilians have been sheltering from Russian shelling under a chemical plant in the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, the Luhansk regional governor has said, raising concerns the facility may still have stocks of dangerous materials.
“There are civilians there in bomb shelters, there are quite a few of them,” Serhiy Gaidai said of the Azot chemical plant, adding that there were “strong Soviet-era” bomb shelters under the factory.
“It’s a privately-owned plant, we can’t know 100 percent if any chemicals are left,” he told Reuters.
US plans to sell armed drones to Ukraine in coming days: Report
The Biden administration plans to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be armed with Hellfire missiles for battlefield use against Russia, the Reuters news agency reported, citing three people familiar with the situation.
“Generally the MQ-1C is a much larger aircraft with a max take-off weight around three times that of the Bayraktar-TB2, with commensurate advantages in payload capacity, range, and endurance,” said drone expert Dan Gettinger with the Vertical Flight Society.
But the sale of the General Atomics-made drones could still be blocked by Congress, according to the report, and there is also a risk of a last minute policy reversal that could scuttle the plan.
US to send medium-range rocket systems to Ukraine
The Pentagon has announced that the US will send Ukraine four sophisticated, medium-range rocket systems and ammunition to help try to stall Russian progress in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
But it will take at least three weeks to get the precision weapons and trained troops onto the battlefield, said Colin Kahl, the US defence undersecretary for policy.
“It is a grinding fight,” Kahl said during a Pentagon briefing. “We believe that these additional capabilities will arrive in a timeframe that’s relevant and allow the Ukrainians to very precisely target the types of things they need for the current fight.”
Biden announces new military aid package for Ukraine
US President Joe Biden has announced a new $700m weapons package for Ukraine that will include High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which can accurately hit targets from as far away as 80km (50 miles).
“The United States will stand with our Ukrainian partners and continue to provide Ukraine with weapons and equipment to defend itself,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden announced the plan to give Ukraine the HIMARS after receiving assurances from Kyiv that it would not use them to hit targets inside Russian territory.
As directed by @POTUS, I am authorizing $700 million in additional U.S. arms, equipment, and supplies for Ukraine to reinforce its defenses against Russia’s senseless war of choice. We stand #UnitedwithUkraine.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) June 1, 2022
Welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Read all the updates from Wednesday, June 1 here.
Pingback: good tide gummies
Pingback: Diyala Science
Pingback: สื่อการสอนฟรี
Pingback: lazywin888
Pingback: MM88BET คืออะไร ?