The White House announced Thursday evening, September 21, that the United States would deliver “significant” air defense assets to Ukraine, thanks to a new tranche of military aid of $352 million. It includes air defense missiles, ammunition for Himars multiple rocket launchers, anti-tank weapons and artillery ammunition. The first Abrams tanks will arrive in Ukraine “next week”, the American president also promised.
However, kyiv will not, for the moment, receive the powerful long-range ATACMS missiles it requests. Joe Biden, however, “did not rule out this possibility in the future”. While receiving Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife at the White House on Thursday, the American president also expressed his support, promising to “ensure that the world is on the side” of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president thanked parliamentarians and the American people on Thursday in Congress for their great, immense support. He nevertheless declared this week that it would be a “disappointment” for him to leave without these powerful tactical missiles.
The US government welcomes the counter-offensive
Before the congress, Volodymyr Zelensky also praised the results of the counter-offensive launched by the Ukrainian armed forces, which had been criticized by American military officials anonymously in the press. “Ukraine is actually regaining ground, it is doing it methodically, one step at a time,” he promised.
Joe Biden’s advisor estimated that thanks in particular to American military assistance, the Ukrainian forces had succeeded “in liberating more territory in three months than the Russians had been able to take in eight months.” “Several large cities in Ukraine are not under Russian occupation or domination today. Firstly thanks to the courage of the Ukrainian soldiers and the Ukrainian people who support them but also, in no small way, thanks to the material support we we provided,” judged Jake Sullivan. Some elected officials from the Republican opposition are demanding that the United States end financial and military aid to Ukraine, arguing, among other things, that this would be a lost cause.
Canada promises Zelensky “unwavering support”
Zelensky then continued his tour of North America with a visit to Canada on Friday 22. The country has the second largest Ukrainian diaspora after Russia with 1.4 million people of Ukrainian origin on its territory, and has supported it since the very beginning of the Russian invasion. After landing late Thursday evening, he was greeted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who assured him of Canada’s “unwavering support.” Volodymyr Zelensky must then meet, with his Minister of Defense, the Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon, and deliver a speech to the Canadian Parliament.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Canada has committed more than $8.9 billion in support to Ukraine across a wide range of measures. Ottawa has also trained more than 36,000 Ukrainian troops and provided military assistance that includes eight Leopard 2 main battle tanks, an armored recovery vehicle, 39 armored vehicles, anti-tank weapons, drones and communications equipment. satellite.
For the rest of the day, Zelensky will fly with Justin Trudeau to Toronto, where the two heads of state will meet business leaders and members of the Canadian-Ukrainian community. This is the first official visit by the Ukrainian president to Canadian soil since the start of the invasion. “The Ukrainian people are the spearhead which, at this moment, determines the future of the 21st century,” added Prime Minister Trudeau in a press release on Thursday evening.
Five Bulgarians arrested for Russian espionage in England
Five Bulgarians living in the UK have been charged by the Crown Prosecution Service, accused of taking part in a spying plot for Russia between August 2020 and February this year. The three men and two women, aged 29 to 45, are, according to the CPS, accused of “conspiracy to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy”.
They will appear at courts in Westminster and London for their first hearing on September 26. Two of them had already been charged in February with “possession of false identity documents with improper intent” – news of which emerged in August. Prosecutions for espionage in British courts are very rare, with cases of espionage by foreigners often dealt with through deportations.
Serbia accuses the West of hypocrisy
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday accused the West of “hypocrisy”. According to him, the recognition of Kosovo’s independence is based on the same justification as Russia’s war against Ukraine. He told the UN General Assembly Tribune that Western countries had invoked the principles of sovereignty and human rights to approve Kosovo’s status as an independent nation. Belgrade, as well as its main allies, China and Russia, have refused to recognize the independence of Kosovo, whose population is mainly of Albanian origin but which includes areas with a Serb majority in the North.
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after NATO helped push Serbian forces out of the former province in a bloody war that left around 13,000 people dead. most of Albanian origin.
“They did not laugh when the Russian president used the same words to justify his attack on Ukraine,” said Aleksandar Vucic. “The worst thing is that all those who committed aggression against the Republic of Serbia are today giving lessons on the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he added, emphasizing that “the principles do not change from one circumstance to another.