The President of the United States, Joe Biden, with his grandson, Beau Biden, as he disembarked from Marine One at Fort McNair in Washington this Sunday. Andrew Harnik (AP)

The United States believes that the insurgency of the Wagner mercenary group not only exposes the cracks in the Russian regime, but also diverts its attention and could facilitate Ukraine’s counteroffensive even after the crisis has abated. United States President Joe Biden spoke with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky this Sunday and topics to be discussed included both recent events in Russia and the counteroffensive, the White House said in a statement.

Zelenski said it was “a positive and inspiring conversation.” “We discussed the course of hostilities and the processes in Russia. The world must put pressure on Russia until international order is restored.” has tweeted. The President of Ukraine especially thanked the US and its allies for the Patriot missiles and fighter jets. In addition, he added that both leaders “discussed further expanding defense cooperation, with a focus on long-range weapons.”

In addition to the talk between Biden and Zelenski, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also spoke to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov this Sunday about the development of regional security and dynamics on the ground in Ukraine, the Pentagon said.

Secretary Austin reaffirmed “America’s unwavering support for Ukraine” and discussed security assistance priorities to meet Ukraine’s battlefield needs. The nature of military priorities and needs change in part with the transition to the counter-offensive phase and may be affected by current events. Troops of the Wagner mercenary group have left the border and are headed for Belarus after being diverted from heading to Moscow thanks to a pact granting some immunity to the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The United States cautiously assumes that recent events will facilitate Ukraine’s counteroffensive. In a series of interviews this Sunday with major news outlets (excluding Fox News), the US Secretary of State not only argued that the uprising demonstrated cracks in the Russian regime and Putin’s weakness, but also presented an opportunity to counterattack.

“To the extent that it’s a real distraction for Putin and the Russian authorities, who need to watch their backs even as they try to get a handle on the counteroffensive in Ukraine, I think there’s even greater opportunity for “The Ukrainians do that. Good on the field,” Blinken said Sunday on CBS. And in the same vein, he declared on NBC: “It’s an advantage for Ukraine, which continues to press ahead with their counteroffensive.” It’s still early days, but they have everything they need to succeed. It will drag on for weeks and even months, but that only creates another problem for Putin.”

Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without restrictions.

subscribe to

According to the Foreign Minister, everything is ready so that the counter-offensive can take place “at full speed”. “But they have a plan and they have a very conscious plan. You carry out this plan. And we have over 50 countries that continue to support them to ensure they have everything they need to do their best to reclaim the land that Russia has taken from them for the last 16 months. “It’s ongoing, but it will take time: weeks, maybe even months,” Blinken said.

While Blinken has attended four straight interviews, Biden has preferred to remain silent all weekend at Camp David and not make any public statements. It remains to be seen if he will make any public comments after his return to the White House. This Monday he has called for legislation to introduce an investment in telecommunications infrastructure, but it is not clear if he will allow questions.

Biden has kept in touch with his key allies. On Saturday he spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

This Sunday, in addition to speaking with Zelensky, he also spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, “as part of his close coordination with allies and partners following recent events in Russia,” the White House reported. . “Leaders have reiterated their unwavering support for Ukraine and discussed the situation in Russia,” read the summary of the call from Washington. As we closely monitor developments in the security situation in Russia, we maintain close cooperation with allies and partners around the world. I discussed it with President Biden today. We will keep in touch and remain united in support of Ukraine.” Trudeau tweeted.

The Canadian Prime Minister also spoke to Selenski this Sunday. They discussed the current situation on the battlefield and exchanged assessments “of the attempted coup in Russia and the impact of this situation on the course of hostilities.” Zelensky explained.

Follow all international information on Facebook and Twitteror in our weekly newsletter.

While militia boss Wagner has given up going to Moscow, reports linked to the paramilitary group have expressed frustration with Yevgeny Prigoyine after his reversal.

• Also read: Wagner’s leader turns and orders his troops to halt their march toward Moscow

• Also read: Chaos in Russia: Follow our special

• Also read: Prigozhin’s flip-flop: Putin thanks Lukashenko for “the work done”

Telegram account AP Wagner published a message some time after the announcement of the deal negotiated with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

“I’m breaking my contract,” you could read there.

About 25,000 Wagner paramilitaries had entered Russian territory in the last few hours.

Yevgeny Prigoyine had encouraged them to go to Moscow before ordering his men to turn back.

Migrants who sleep in Chicago police stations for weeks say they are doing better than their counterparts who were taken to state shelters.

Chicago Tribune reporters spent a night at a police station speaking to migrants who had developed a routine there.

When asked by a city official which of them would like to be transferred to an emergency shelter, they all declined, saying they were comfortable there and claiming their friends had told them that conditions in the government-run shelters were poor emergency shelters are worse.

But Chicago officials have already spent another $51 million looking after migrants over the past month as thousands of illegal immigrants continue to pour into the Windy City.

Executives say they are now looking for “more sustainable solutions.”

A Venezuelan migrant couple and their 17-month-old daughter rest in the lobby of a police station where they have been staying with other migrant families since arriving in the city on May 9

A Venezuelan migrant father changes his 15-month-old son’s diaper in the lobby of a police station

The migrants housed at Chicago police stations say they are doing better than those in shelters

Officials in Chicago have repeatedly said they can’t afford to rent hotel rooms for the more than 10,000 migrants who have arrived since August, and with nowhere else to go, they have begun to fill police stations.

Chicago is one of many northern cities — most of which are Democrat-run and designated “safe cities” — to which southern governors have sent busloads of migrants from the US-Mexico border.

As of Friday, 4,878 migrants were in shelters operated by the City of Chicago and 460 others were awaiting placement in police stations as shelters remain full, Mary May, spokeswoman for the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, told the Tribune.

She said police district census numbers are analyzed each morning and “decompression” decisions about who is allowed to leave stations are based on the number of migrants at each station, the needs of people with special circumstances, the availability of space and transportation.

“Individuals are given a service number request number of 311 upon arrival in the system.” “That helps track when they arrive,” May said.

“As newcomers and asylum seekers continue to arrive in Chicago via buses and other transportation, city officials are simultaneously working to find spaces that can be converted into temporary shelters and to assist individuals and families in finding more permanent housing options.”

Migrants with “medical or special needs, families or singles with other critical needs such as pregnancy” are given priority in temporary housing.

But even if the number of migrants in need of shelter falls, May says it’s quickly picking up again as more migrants pour into the city of refuge.

Since May 9, nearly two dozen buses have arrived from Texas — seven since the middle of the month.

City officials brought about 38 migrants to the station in the 5th Precinct in early May, reports the Tribune, and about a dozen remain.

Brianyerlis Carreno 10 of Venezuela holds her 8-month-old brother Mateo Vargas outside the Chicago Police Station in the 12th Precinct, where video showed migrants living in the hallway

In the picture, some migrants are sitting on the floor of a police station, waiting for emergency shelter

Officials in Chicago have repeatedly said they cannot afford to rent hotel rooms for the more than 10,000 migrants who have arrived since August

Those with families are among the migrants who are given priority in emergency shelters if a place becomes available

There, the migrants said, one volunteer takes them to work at a construction site every day, while another takes them to a different location to shower two to three times a week.

The migrants at the police station say they subsist on sandwiches and non-perishable foods.

Footage released by photojournalist Rebecca Brannon showed dozens of migrants sitting on and around mattresses at a Chicago police station.

Brannon reported that many of the migrants slept and ate on the floor, disrupting everyday police work.

Occasionally, some of the migrants who spoke to the Tribune said they were scowled at by the police officers on duty.

“We’re not here because we want to be.” “I want to go,” Betzabeth Blancho said. “My husband goes out every day to find work. I go out every day to find work.

“I want to tell them that we’re trying to make money so we can move out as soon as possible,” she said of the officers, adding, “It’s not easy living here.”

But when approached about possibly moving to a city-run shelter, Blancho and others at the station declined. They cited the job, which could earn them up to $150 a day, and said they had heard from friends that conditions at the shelters were worse.

In fact, other migrants in nine different shelters told the Tribune that they are crammed into hotel rooms or sleeping on the floor, consuming cold and unsavory meals, and don’t know where to find resources.

Volunteers also stated that they were forbidden from entering the emergency shelters and providing the migrants with donations of clothing and hot meals.

Venezuelan migrant Victoria Oropeza, 9, rests her face on the stomach of her father William, 24, as the two wait in line at a migrant processing center for food from a food truck

Last month, city officials threw $51 million at the migrant issue to help Mayor Brandon Johnson deal with the crisis he inherited from outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

The money was to be spent on emergency shelter staff, food, transportation and legal services in hopes it would alleviate the city’s crisis.

Now Johnson’s administration says it is looking for “more sustainable solutions” to make Chicago a “hospitable city.”

“We are known as a hospitable city, we have an ordinance to that effect, and now the infrastructure is being built to be able to implement this concept,” First Deputy Chief of Staff Cristina Pacone-Zayas said in a statement to WTTW.

“We want to work with our community-based organizations so they can staff our shelters.” They can also support the case management needed to find permanent housing solutions, and we’re working with the state to provide six-month rental assistance to cover so that individuals can start their lives in Chicago and embark on the journey towards sustainable resettlement in our cities.’

This rental assistance is available to anyone in a city-operated emergency shelter.

In addition, Pacone-Zayas said city officials are in discussions with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and national employers’ organizations “who also have a desire to streamline work permitting for migrants who apply for a work permit.”

(Bloomberg) – A day after Moscow defused the main threat to President Vladimir Putin’s rule, China said it supports Russia’s measures to maintain national stability.

Most Read by Bloomberg

The brief statement by a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, who described the weekend’s events as “Russia’s internal affairs,” came after Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko in Beijing.

Adding to an earlier comment from Beijing that the two had exchanged views on international and regional issues of common interest.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu also met with Rudenko on Sunday and vowed to defend the countries’ common interests amid a “complex and grim” international environment.

Mutual political trust between Beijing and Moscow has grown under Putin and President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Ma in another statement.

Read more: Silence shrouds Kremlin after Russian mutiny against Putin

In a TV show to the nation on Saturday, Putin spoke of “treason” as militia officers loyal to Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin made their way north towards Moscow. As part of an agreement to end the uprising, the Russian president guaranteed late Sunday that Prigozhin would be allowed to travel to Belarus and that authorities would drop criminal mutiny charges against him and his fighters, the Kremlin said.

“The Chinese side expressed its support for the efforts of the Russian leadership to stabilize the situation in the country in connection with the events of June 24 and reiterated its interest in strengthening Russia’s cohesion and further prosperity,” one said Statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry on its website.

The story goes on

The ministry said Rudenko was on a work trip and the consultations were scheduled.

Blinken says Wagner uprising is a “direct challenge” to Putin

The weekend’s events in Russia were covered by Chinese state media, including People’s Daily and China Central Television. Global Times published an article by former editor-in-chief Hu Xijin analyzing what scenarios the uprising could lead to, including regime change. Xi has a close relationship with Putin and visited him in Moscow in March.

The official Xinhua News Agency said in a Chinese-language article that Russian “representatives from all parts of the nation, dignitaries and religious leaders condemned the incident in the strongest possible terms and made it clear that they were on the side of the Russian federal government, stability and peace .” .”

The topic has also been a hot topic on China’s social media, with users sharing screenshots of Twitter discussions. Some compared Prigozhin’s actions to the An Lushan Rebellion that began in AD 755, when a disgruntled general and favorite of the emperor used his troops to seize the eastern capital and proclaim himself emperor. Although the uprising ultimately failed, it led to a weakening of the Tang Dynasty.

A Weibo account run by a section of the People’s Liberation Army ran a China National Radio report on how Mao Zedong reshaped the army in 1927 – an event that ensured the party retained absolute control of the army.

– With the support of Jing Li and Xiao Zibang.

(Updates with comments from Xinhua News Agency.)

Most Read by Bloomberg Businessweek

©2023 Bloomberg LP