(Agencies).- The administration of United States President Joe Biden today unveiled a $5.79 billion budget project, with higher defense spending coinciding with the war in Ukraine, which he plans to fund by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthiest .
In its 277-page proposal, the White House is asking Congress to approve a budget of $5.79 trillion for fiscal 2023, which begins October, compared to $5.85 trillion for 2022.
Overall, the US government plans to allocate $813,000 million for defense, a 4% increase from fiscal 2022, of which $31,000 million would be in new spending. For the war in Ukraine and to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank, the Biden administration wants to provide $ 6.9 billion to “counteract” the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory.
Biden demanded that spending continue to respond “to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression” against Ukraine, “with United States support for the economic, humanitarian and security needs” of Kiev
In a statement, Biden called for spending to continue “responding to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression” in Ukraine, “with United States support for the economic, humanitarian and security needs” of Kiev.
In a subsequent press conference, Biden stressed that the increase in defense spending was because “the world has changed” due to competition from countries like China and Russia, which would require investment in counter-cyber attacks and in new capabilities in space. including hypersonic missiles. “This will be one of our largest investments in national security,” Biden said.
In Russia, meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements about the intervention of third countries in the “special military operation” do not refer to nuclear weapons and nobody thinks about their use weapons in Ukraine.
“Any result of the operation is of course no reason for the use of a nuclear weapon. We have a security concept that states very clearly that we are only allowed to enter our country if there is an existential threat to the state. “And will actually use nuclear weapons to eliminate the threat,” he explained.
Faced with the possibility of nuclear weapons being used in the event of third-party involvement, Peskov made it clear in an interview with PBS TV channel that he “does not believe” that Russian President Vladimir Putin was referring to the use of nuclear weapons in his words.
Specifically, Peskov was referring to the Russian President’s speech announcing the “special military operation” in the Donbass region, in which he “warned various states not to interfere in the affairs between Ukraine and Russia during the operation.”
The Kremlin spokesman also described the recent statements by US President Joe Biden to Putin as “alarming”.
“Nobody thinks about using (or) even the idea of using nuclear weapons,” he said, adding that Putin was “pretty bold” when he (third party) said “don’t interfere” because in case of doing “we have every means to prevent it and to punish all” who will do it.
The Kremlin spokesman also described US President Joe Biden’s recent comments about Putin as “alarming,” hours after the White House tenant clarified that he did not support regime change in the Eurasian country.
“Your statement about whether or not Putin should be in power in Russia is of course unacceptable. It is not up to the President of the United States to decide who will be President of Russia and who it is the Russian people who will decide in the elections,” Peskov said.
Peskov also ruled out that Russia plans to send troops to NATO countries “unless there is reciprocity.” “Unless they make us do it, we can’t think about it, and we don’t want to think about it,” he explained during the interview with PBS.
Peskov has also reiterated that Moscow “does not recognize the jurisdiction” of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which has ordered Russia to halt its military operations. “We didn’t recognize it before, we don’t accept it now and we won’t accept it in the future,” he said. In addition, the Kremlin spokesman has denied that the Russian army has carried out attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, saying it has “very strict orders” not to carry out such attacks. “He doesn’t,” he said.
“They don’t attack houses. They don’t attack apartments. They do not attack civilian targets. They only attack and target military infrastructure, in connection with one of the main objectives of the operation.”
“They don’t attack houses. They don’t attack apartments. They do not attack civilian targets. They only attack and target military infrastructure, in connection with one of the main objectives of the operation, namely the demilitarization of Ukraine,” he said.
In that line he has argued that those responsible for this destruction in cities like Mariúpol are “Nazi battalions” that are in the area. “They kill those who try to flee the city. These Nazi battalions use the apartments as hiding places for rifles, weapons, tanks and snipers. This in turn causes a fire. It’s not the Russian army that’s doing it, “settled himself.
On the other hand, Peskov emphasized that Western countries have declared a full-scale economic war against Russia. “We have to adapt to the new conditions. Unfortunately, these conditions are quite unfriendly,” he said of the sanctions imposed on Russia.
“Western European countries, the United States, Canada, Australia are actually at war against us in trade, in the economy, in confiscating our property, confiscating our funds, blocking our relations. We have to adapt to the new reality.” Kremlin spokesman stressed.
Peskov himself said Monday that Russia would not supply gas “for charity” to “enemy” countries that did not want to pay for it in rubles. Thus, he acknowledged that the gas supply process is “very complicated” and pointed out that Moscow is still evaluating the details of this delivery, after revealing its plans to demand payment of the raw material in rubles for the countries that are classified as Reprisal sanctions imposed on the US invasion of Ukraine.
Putin announced last week that he intends to change the currency of payment for gas, although he has guaranteed that Russia will continue to supply gas in accordance with established volumes and prices
Putin last week expressed his intention to change the currency of payment for gas, although he guaranteed that Russia will continue to supply gas in accordance with the established volumes and prices. For their part, the G7 on Monday expressed their opposition to Russia’s intention, calling the imposition “unacceptable”.
The delegations of Russia and Ukraine arrived this Tuesday at the Presidential Office of the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul to resume negotiations and seek a compromise that will end the armed conflict they are facing.
Under tight security, delegates arrived an hour early at the venue for the two-day face-to-face talks. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed them with a short speech, televised live, expressing his hope that a ceasefire could be agreed.
“We believe that in a just peace there are no losers. None of the parties likes the continuation of the war and an immediate ceasefire would benefit all,” he said. It would already be a positive sign for analysts if the negotiations are not interrupted today and, as initially planned, it is announced at the end of the day that they will be continued tomorrow.
The Russian delegates landed at Istanbul Ataturk Airport around 4:00 p.m. local time on Monday, with the Ukrainians arriving around six hours later. Both delegations will stay in hotels near Dolmabahce. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the talks would take place behind closed doors.
“We believe that in a just peace there are no losers. Neither party likes the continuation of the war, and an immediate ceasefire would benefit all.”
So far, the two parties have met in person three times – on February 28, March 3 and March 7 – on Belarusian territory, while on the 10th the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine, Sergei Lavrov and Dmitro Kuleba, respectively.
Since then, negotiations in video conference format have been taking place almost daily at the level of the two delegations and working groups.
According to the Financial Times, Russia has already accepted Ukraine’s possible accession to the European Union, abandoning the concept of “denazification” of the country it has insisted on so much.
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