ROME: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received vocal backing from Italian leaders in Rome as Germany announced a $3 billion military aid package for Kyiv, ahead of a meeting the Ukrainian leader will have with German leaders in Berlin on Sunday. Italian President Sergio Mattarella told Zelenskyy during his visit to Rome that “we are fully […]
SEP 9: Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the arms package at a meeting with dozens of fellow ministers at the US air base in Ramstein, Germany.
The aid includes howitzers, munitions, Humvee vehicles, armoured ambulances and anti-tank systems.
The US has already pledged about $13bn in military aid for Ukraine.
The Biden administration said on Thursday it had earmarked $2bn in long-term assistance in the form of investments to bolster the security of Ukraine and 18 of its neighbours, including both Nato members and non-members at risk of future Russian aggression.
It said it would notify Congress of the aid plan.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, as his colleague urged Ukraine's allies to commit to supporting the country for as long as necessary and be prepared to adapt the type of support offered.
In Kyiv, Mr Blinken said that the aid would be delivered at a "pivotal" moment during the war, with Ukrainian operations against Russian forces "proving effective".
He also vowed that the US and its allies would "continue to exert that pressure until the aggression ceases and Ukraine is fully sovereign and independent".
JUNE 27: President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the G7 summit via video-link, calling for more weapons for Ukraine.
He tells global leaders gathered in Germany that he wants the war to end by the end of the year "before winter sets in", sources say.
G7 leaders are expected to offer more military support as well as further sanctions against Russia, with some planning to ban Russian gold imports.
UK PM Boris Johnson is to call for action to get grain supplies out of Ukraine's blockaded ports as fears grow of famine in Africa and the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Russia has reportedly defaulted on its debt for the first time since 1918.
Russian missiles hit Ukrainian cities on Sunday - one strike on a residential apartment block in Kyiv killed at least one person and injured others.
JUNE 17: "Ukraine belongs to the European family," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at a joint briefing in Kyiv.
But he added that Ukraine still had to meet the accession criteria in full.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the 27-member EU would stand by Ukraine until its victory against Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described Russia's continuing aggression as a war "against the united Europe", adding that the "most effective weapon" was unity.
And he again appealed for more heavy weapons to be sent urgently for Ukraine to be able to defend itself more effectively and liberate territories seized by Moscow since the start of the invasion on 24 February.
Earlier on Thursday, the four EU leaders visited the devastated town of Irpin near Kyiv, which for several weeks was occupied by Russia.
Ukraine accuses Russian soldiers of committing war crimes by killing hundreds of civilians in Irpin and nearby towns such as Bucha - a claim denied by Moscow.
The visit to Kyiv comes as Russian troops are continuing their assault on the key city of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Capturing Severodonetsk - and its twin city of Lysychansk - has for weeks been a top military goal for Russia, as the Kremlin seeks to control all of the wider Luhansk region.
President Macron and Chancellor Scholz, together with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, visited Ukraine for the first time since the war began.
The trip came a day before the European Commission is due to make a recommendation on whether to give Ukraine an EU candidate status. All 27 EU leaders will then discuss the issue at a summit on 23 and 24 June.
Some of the bloc's members have been lukewarm about Ukraine's accession to the EU, and the words of support from France, Germany and Italy - the three EU heavyweights - could sway their position.
However, candidacy status will only be the next step on the road to the full membership, which may take years.
Before the Kyiv visit, Ukrainian officials repeatedly criticised France, Germany and Italy for being slow in delivering weapons and placing too much focus on appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Earlier this month, Mr Macron said it was vital that Russia was not humiliated over its invasion, suggesting that Mr Putin should have a way out of what he called a "fundamental error".
Meanwhile in Moscow, Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who is now deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, on Thursday criticised the EU leaders' trip on Twitter, using a dismissive slur relating to stereotypes of three of the EU nations' cuisines.
"European fans of frogs, liverwurst and spaghetti" loved visiting Kyiv, he wrote. "With zero use."
With inputs from BBC
KYIV/IRPIN, Ukraine, June 17: The leaders of Germany, France and Italy, all criticised in the past by Kyiv for support viewed as too cautious, visited Ukraine on Thursday and offered the hope of EU membership to a country pleading for weapons to fend off Russia's invasion.
FEB 13: The US, UK and Germany are among those who told their nationals to leave.
Moscow has amassed an estimated 100,000 troops along Ukraine's border but denies any intent to invade.
In a phone call, US President Joe Biden again warned Russian leader Vladimir Putin of the costs of any invasion.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said invasion warnings could stoke panic, which he called "the best friend of our enemies".
The White House has warned that an invasion could happen at any time, and could begin with bombing from the air. Russia characterised such allegations as "provocative speculation".
Non-essential staff have been ordered to leave the US Embassy in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, and consular services will be suspended from Sunday, although "a small consular presence" will remain in the western city of Lviv "to handle emergencies".
Canada is also moving its embassy staff to Lviv, near the border with Poland, Canadian media reported. UK ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons tweeted that she and a "core team" are staying in Kyiv.
Russia itself is also making changes, saying it will "optimise the staffing" of its diplomats in Ukraine, citing "possible acts of provocation by the Kyiv regime or third countries".
The US has also pulled some 150 troops who were training Ukrainian soldiers out of the country, citing an abundance of caution. And Dutch airline KLM announced it would stop flying to Ukraine, effective immediately, Dutch media said.
Mr Zelensky said that if Western powers had any firm evidence of an impending invasion, he had yet to see it.
"I think there is too much information in the media about a deep, full-scale war," he said.
"We understand all the risks, we understand that they exist. If you or someone else has additional 100% reliable information about the Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine... please share it with us."
Many countries, including Australia, Italy, Israel, the Netherlands and Japan have told their citizens to leave Ukraine. Some have also evacuated diplomatic staff and their families.
Mr Biden told Mr Putin that any invasion would result in "swift and severe costs on Russia", White House notes about the call said.
"While the United States remains prepared to engage in diplomacy... we are equally prepared for other scenarios," it said.
The Kremlin described the call as taking place amid "peak hysteria" from the US and its allies, and said Mr Putin had again told his counterpart that they had not addressed Russia's security concerns. But both leaders would continue to talk, it said.
French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke to Mr Putin by phone on Saturday, telling him that "a sincere dialogue was not compatible with escalation", according to notes released by the French embassy.
With foreign embassies withdrawing staff and a host of countries now telling their citizens to leave Ukraine, Kyiv still doesn't feel like a city in crisis.
The government here is telling people to stay calm and united and, in the words of a statement this morning, refrain from actions that undermine stability and sow panic. President Zelensky said the country had to be ready for any eventuality.
Across Ukraine, foreign citizens are now making hurried plans. Stuart McKenzie, who's lived in Kyiv for 28 years and runs a successful business, hopes to get his wife and two sons out on a flight. But he is ready, if necessary, to pack the family into the car and drive 300 miles to Poland. He loves Ukraine and can't quite believe it's come to this.
At the British Embassy, we found tight-lipped staff loading bags into a car and driving off. No-one seemed keen to talk.
Not far to the north, across the border in Belarus, Russia's war games are now well under way. Russian defence ministry pictures, released this morning, showed multiple rocket launchers being fired. Moscow still says it has no plans to invade. But there's a lot the Russians can do without ever setting foot inside Ukraine.
In Kyiv, several thousand people marched through the city on Saturday, chanting slogans pledging loyalty to Ukraine and resistance to any Russian invasion. The march was organised by a right-wing nationalist group called Gonor and anti-Zelensky far-right activist Sergiy Sternenko, but it attracted other people too.
BBC reporter Eleanor Montague says the demonstration was not huge, but was the first significant manifestation of public feeling since tensions escalated, finishing at the Maidan, the city's most famous square.
Sasha Nizelska, who works as a nanny in Kyiv, told the BBC that she would resist a Russian attack with all means in her power. The sentiment was repeated by people of all age groups attending the demonstration.
Tensions have steadily increased as Russia has continued to deploy troops along Ukraine's eastern border. Russian troops are also staging military exercises in Belarus to the north, while naval exercises in the Sea of Azov in the south-east have led to accusations that Russia is blocking Ukraine's access to the sea.
Meanwhile, some 7,500km (4,660 miles) away on Russia's eastern side, the Russian defence ministry says it spotted a US Navy submarine inside its territorial waters. Officials say the US submarine was near the Kuril Islands and failed to surface when instructed.
The Marshal Shaposhnikov destroyer took unspecified "appropriate" actions and the US submarine left the area, the ministry said. A US defence official has been summoned by Moscow over the incident.
However, US officials later contradicted their Russian counterparts' version of events.
"There is no truth to the Russian claims of our operations in their territorial waters," US military spokesman Captain Kyle Raines said in a statement carried by Reuters.
"I will not comment on the precise location of our submarines but we do fly, sail, and operate safely in international waters."
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