On the 88th day of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska was interviewed by a local broadcaster along with her husband, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It is the second joint public appearance since the beginning of the war in February and the first joint interview.
It is in an unknown location for security reasons.
“No one will take my husband away from me, not even the war,” she said when asked if the conflict had driven her away.
She also said that Zelenskyy has not changed in recent months. “I cannot say that Volodymyr has changed since the beginning of this war. He was a dependable husband and a dependable man before, and that continues,” he said.
Zelenskyi also reported today that Russian forces destroyed 1,873 school facilities during the conflict.
He called the losses “colossal”. Deliberate attacks on schools and other civilian infrastructure are considered war crimes.
Turkey sets conditions for Sweden and Finland to join NATO
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke yesterday for the first time since the impasse over Sweden and Finland joining NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
In a statement released after the talks, Erdogan said he hopes “Sweden will take concrete and serious steps that show it shares Turkey’s concerns about the terrorist organization PKK.” [Partido dos Trabalhadores do Curdistão] and its implications in Syria and Iraq”.
Erdogan is also calling on the country to lift restrictions on arms exports issued against Turkey in October 2019 following Turkish military incursions in northern Syria and Iraq against the PKK and its allies YPG. Along with the United States, the country faced the jihadist organization Islamic State.
Both Sweden and Finland have decided to break with decades of military nonalignment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by applying for NATO membership. However, accession requires the unanimous consent of all members of the Atlantic Alliance.
Turkey rejects the request as these two countries are considered by Turkey’s “sanctuaries” of the PKK, an organization classified as terrorist by Ankara, as well as by the United States and the European Union.
US aid and new sanctions
US President Joe Biden yesterday signed a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine the funds are to support the eastern European country for the next five months and will be used for military, general economic and address aid, among other things, food shortages.
The aid, approved with the support of Democrats and large majorities of Republicans in the House and Senate, deepens US commitment to Ukraine at a time of uncertainty about the future of the war that is about to enter its fourth Month stands and its promises are extended .
The Russian government announced it had banned 963 Americans from entering the country, including President Joe Biden, Interfax reported. The list released by the Russian State Department also vetoes access to Russian territory by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA chief William Burns.
The bans are only symbolic, but were imposed in response to sanctions imposed on Moscow by the US government over the February 24 war in Ukraine.
*With AFP