The stories you want. The opinions that matter.
No, thanks
Tag: volodomyr zelensky
Zelensky Asked Biden To List Russia As 'State Sponsor of Terrorism'

Zelensky Asked Biden To List Russia As 'State Sponsor of Terrorism'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently made a direct appeal to U.S. President Joe Biden for the United States to designate Russia a "state sponsor of terrorism," the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing people familiar with their conversation.

Biden did not commit to specific actions during that call, the newspaper reported.

The label can be applied to any country that has "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism," the newspaper said, citing a State Department fact sheet. The list currently includes four countries: North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler)

As Ukraine Reclaims Kyiv Region, Russian Retreat Exposes War Crimes​​

As Ukraine Reclaims Kyiv Region, Russian Retreat Exposes War Crimes​​

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) - Ukraine said it had regained control of the Kyiv region, with Russian troops retreating from around the capital and Chernigiv city, as evidence emerged of civilian killings in areas the invading forces have been occupying.

AFP reporters saw at least 20 bodies, all in civilian clothing, strewn across a single street in the town of Bucha near the capital and the body of a missing photographer was discovered in a nearby village.

Three of them were tangled up in bicycles after taking their final ride, while others had fallen next to bullet-ridden and crushed cars.

One had his hands tied behind his back with a white cloth, and his Ukrainian passport left open beside his corpse, said AFP journalists who accessed the ravaged town.

"All these people were shot," Bucha's mayor Anatoly Fedoruk told AFP, adding that 280 other bodies had been buried in mass graves in the town.

"These are the consequences of Russian occupation," said Fedoruk.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she was "appalled by atrocities in Bucha and other towns in Ukraine".

"Reports of Russian forces targeting innocent civilians are abhorrent. The UK is working with others to collect evidence and support @IntlCrimCourt war crimes investigation. Those responsible will be held to account," Truss tweeted late Saturday.

The International Criminal Court has already opened a probe into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine, and several Western leaders, including President Joe Biden, have accused Russia's Vladimir Putin of being a "war criminal".

President Volodymyr Zelensky has also accused Russian soldiers of planting mines and other booby traps as they withdraw from northern Ukraine.

"They are leaving behind a complete disaster and many dangers.... Firstly, the air strikes may continue. Secondly, they are mining the whole territory. Mining houses, equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed," he said in a video address Saturday, warning returning residents of tripwires and other dangers.

"We are moving forward. Moving carefully and everyone who returns to this area must also be very careful," he said.

While Russian forces appeared to be withdrawing from the north, a series of explosions were heard Sunday morning in the historic Black Sea port of Odessa, with an AFP journalist reporting columns of black smoke and flames visible, apparently in an industrial part of the strategic city.

Anton Herashchenko, adviser to the interior minister, said Odessa was attacked from the air.

"Fires were reported in some areas. Part of the missiles were shot down by air defence," he wrote on Telegram.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to raise economic pressure on Russia, the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania announced Saturday that they had stopped all imports of Russian natural gas.

'Verbal Agreement' From Russia

In a potential sign of progress to end the fighting, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia told local television channels that Russia had "verbally" accepted most of Kyiv's proposals in peace talks -- except on the issue of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

Among the agreed-upon points was that a referendum on Ukraine's neutral status "will be the only way out of this situation", Arakhamia said.

He said any meeting between Zelensky and Putin would "with a high probability" take place in Turkey, which has sought to mediate the conflict.

As Russian forces withdraw from some northern areas, Moscow appears to be focusing on eastern and southern Ukraine, where it already holds vast swathes of territory.

"What is the aim of the Russian forces? They want to seize both Donbas and the south of Ukraine," Zelensky said in a video address late Saturday. "What is our goal? To defend our freedom, our land, and our people."

But Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak warned on social media that "without heavy weapons we won't be able to drive (Russia) out".

Ukraine authorities nevertheless offered citizens elements of good news Saturday in claiming progress against the Russians more than five weeks after Moscow's invasion triggered Europe's worst conflict in decades.

"Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel and the whole Kyiv region were liberated from the invader," deputy defence minister Ganna Maliar said on Facebook, referring to towns that have been heavily damaged or destroyed by fighting.

Putin ordered tanks into Russia's pro-Western neighbour on February 24, and Ukraine estimates 20,000 people have been killed in the war so far.

More than 10 million have had to flee their homes.

Pope Francis spoke of "icy winds of war" again sweeping over Europe as he brought up the conflict Saturday at the outset of his trip to Malta -- and made what appeared to be a barely veiled reference to Putin.

"Once again, some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, is provoking and fomenting conflicts," the pope said, adding he was still considering a visit to Ukraine's capital.

Journalist Killed With 'Two Shots'

Ukrainian authorities said Saturday the body of a well-known photographer, Maks Levin, had been found near a village in the region around Kyiv that had been caught up in the fighting. Levin became the sixth journalist killed in the war, according to Reporters Without Borders.

Prosecutors said Levin, who was unarmed, "was killed by servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces with two shots from small-fire arms".

Levin, a 40-year-old father of four, had been reported missing on March 13; his body was found on April 1.

In Russia, hundreds of people gathered across the country Saturday to protest against the war in Ukraine. Police detained 211 people in several cities, including more than 20 people in a Moscow park under heavy snowfall, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors arrests.

Russia's efforts to consolidate its hold on southern and eastern areas of Ukraine have been hampered by the resistance of Mariupol despite devastating attacks lasting weeks.

At least 5,000 residents have been killed in the besieged southern port city, according to local officials, while the estimated 160,000 who remain face shortages of food, water and electricity.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its team left for Mariupol on Saturday to make another attempt at conducting an evacuation, after being forced to turn back the day before.

In another southern city, Enerhodar, which is under Russian control, a Ukrainian official said Russian forces opened fire on peaceful demonstrators, injuring four.

In a video address, Zelensky thanked the residents of Enerhodar, the site of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which had been seized by Russian troops in early March, for their bravery.

"When people protest, and the more they protest, the harder it is for the occupiers to destroy us, to destroy our freedom," Zelensky said.


Carlson Scapegoats Harris To Justify Craven Flip-Flop On Ukraine

Carlson Scapegoats Harris To Justify Craven Flip-Flop On Ukraine

Fox News host Tucker Carlson previously defended Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin’s aggression against Ukraine, and his work has been promoted by Kremlin-backed media as he’s opposed economic sanctions and denigrated Ukraine. But amid continued Russian atrocities, such as the attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Carlson is now trying to find a scapegoat for his having gotten the entire situation completely wrong.

It should come with little surprise that he picked out a woman of color to be that scapegoat: Vice President Kamala Harris.

Carlson has a long history of making disgusting sexist comments – while claiming that criticism of his misogyny is evidence of the decline of civilization. He is also the single biggest champion of white nationalism in the media landscape today. When it comes to his attacks on Harris, Carlson’s penchant for racism and misogyny often become intertwined.

Carlson declared Thursday night that Harris’ involvement in rallying America’s allies ahead of the Russian invasion of Ukraine “appeared to be proof this could not really be a big deal,” as “if things were dire, serious people would be involved in fixing them.” Carlson continued, “If the future of Europe and the world hung in the balance as now, so obviously, it does, of course, the Biden administration would not have sent Kamala Harris to fix it.” Apparently, Carlson seems to think the vice president of the United States is capable of engaging only in frivolities.

In the real world, two weeks ago, Harris had in fact warned Russia that the global community would “impose far-reaching financial sanctions” if it invaded Ukraine as she worked to rally America’s partners and allies to deter Russian aggression. She also informed the public in no uncertain terms about the seriousness of the situation, bluntly stating that it involved “the real possibility of war in Europe.” In the time since, the United States has led the global effort to impose economic sanctions against Russia and hold the line in defense of NATO allies.



Over the course of his ranting monologue, Carlson denigrated Harris’ efforts at diplomacy in starkly misogynistic terms. “Imagine being first in line for a shoe sale on Black Friday. Kamala Harris had that look: She knew what she wanted and she knew where to find it.” He also returned to his ongoing obsession with Harris’ love life, proclaiming “So if you're looking for someone to date Montel Williams, well, maybe she’s the person you would choose. She could be a solid choice for that, she has done it before. Dating Montel Williams, you know, is something that’s within her range of experience” then adding that he could not say whether or not she was “good at it.”


Carlson also told a blatant lie based on a selectively edited quote, claiming that Harris had “explicitly encouraged Ukraine to join NATO. Quote, ‘I appreciate and admire President Zelensky's desire to join NATO.’ She said that at a press event.”

Carlson went on to falsely allege that “the idea that Ukraine might join NATO obviously caused this crisis in the first place, whatever you think of it. … So obviously, no sane person would say something like that with Russian troops massed on the Ukrainian border. You'd have to want an invasion of Ukraine to say something like that.” (Russia caused this crisis, not NATO, and not Ukraine.)

Carlson quoted Harris saying, “I appreciate and admire President Zelensky's desire to join NATO,” while leaving out everything else she said while speaking to reporters in Munich, Germany, on February 20. Harris acknowledged Ukraine’s publicly established desire to join NATO’s alliance of democracies — in contrast to Russia’s attempt to dictate domestic and foreign policy to Ukraine — while also balancing that desire with NATO’s established processes of determining new membership. From the White House (emphasis added):

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Let me start by saying I appreciate and admire President Zelenskyy’s desire to join NATO. And one of, again, the founding principles of NATO is that each country must have the ability — unimpaired, unimpeded — to determine their own future, both in terms of their form of government and, in this case, whether they desire to be a member of NATO.
And I’ll put that in context, because the obvious is also the point, which is that: and therefore no other country can tell anyone whether they should or should not join NATO. That should be their independent choice. That is the point of sovereignty. So I respect President Zelenskyy’s desire to be a member of NATO.
NATO is a membership. It is about nations coming together as a group, making decisions collectively around, again, principles and what will be, then, the conditions and — and the standards of membership. And so that is the process.
It doesn’t happen overnight. No one country can say “I want to be, and therefore I will be.” And no one country can say “You can’t be.” And isn’t that at the heart of the very issue we’re presented with in terms of Russia’s aggression, or stated aggression, toward Ukraine?

Of course, acknowledging Harris’ full statement would not only have run completely counter to what Carlson was trying to allege she had said — it would also demonstrate the extent of her knowledge and involvement with the complex policies involved, thus disproving his entire attempt to turn her into a scapegoat for his own propaganda campaign in favor of Russian dictatorship.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters

Impeachment? Ukraine Scandal Leaves No Other Choice

Impeachment? Ukraine Scandal Leaves No Other Choice

Nice little country you’ve got there. It would be a shame if my best friend Vladimir burned it down. That’s the essence of the threat that Donald J. Trump, the world’s most incompetent gangster, delivered to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the phone last July.

Incompetent, among other reasons, because he keeps getting caught. Seemingly persuaded of his impunity, Trump turned U.S. foreign policy into a protection racket for his own political benefit.

With the Russian wolf at the door—Vladimir Putin’s army occupies Ukraine’s easternmost provinces—Trump presented that country’s newly-elected president with a hard bargain. Zelensky either needed to deliver up doctored evidence against Trump’s political rival Joe Biden, or risk forfeiting $400 million in military aid voted by Congress. Money the president had previously embargoed with the customary dubious constitutional authority.

“Previously embargoed” as in a couple of days before Trump’s call.

Trump alibis that he withheld the money because the Europeans weren’t doing their bit. But that’s the usual balderdash. Preventing Putin’s Russia from swallowing up Ukraine, a fragile new European democracy, is an existential issue for our NATO allies. (Most of whom, it’s worth remembering, sent troops to fight and die in Afghanistan after 9/11.) The European Union alone has sent more than $16 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s illegal seizure of Crimea.

But it turns out to be harder than Trump thought to run a shakedown out of the White House when not everybody who works there is a “made man” loyal to the Godfather. Because that’s what it’s come down to with these latest revelations from a “whistleblower” inside the administration: either you support Trumpism or the U.S. Constitution. You can no longer pretend to support both.

Of course, much of the Republican Party has been converted into an authoritarian political cult elevating its hero above our democracy. His sheer audacity is exactly what much of Trump’s celebrated “base” loves about him—united in resentment against anybody they suspect thinks them “deplorable.” (Thanks a lot, Hillary.) Hence Trump now asserts that the “whistleblower” lacks patriotism and loyalty to the United States—meaning himself, the living embodiment of the nation.

However, some Trumpists’ faith may yet waver.

 So Trump wasn’t quite coarse enough to put the threat in so many words. We may need to have an impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate to find out exactly how he framed his message, beyond the July 25 phone call. But once an experienced shakedown artist like Trump has maneuvered his pigeon into a defenseless position, honeyed words and professions of mutual loyalty are the way to go. See how nice the Godfather can be when he gets what he wants? Don’t you want to keep making him happy?

The money remained sequestered, however, until a couple of weeks ago, when the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal began nosing around. Otherwise, Ukraine would have been out of luck.

But the law’s not stupid: A threat needn’t be explicit to be a crime. Cancelling military aid followed by a friendly call letting Zelensky know exactly how to get back in Trump’s good graces would be enough to trigger bribery laws. Federal statutes make it a crime for a government official to express “specific intent to give or receive something of value in exchange for an official act.” Courts have ruled that negative information about political opponents constitutes “something of value.”

Which, of course, it is.

Ironically, the reason that special counsel Robert Mueller declined to prosecute Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and the rest regarding the infamous Trump Tower meeting with Russian agents promising “dirt” on Hillary Clinton was that he wasn’t sure he could prove they knew it was a crime.

This time, that alibi won’t fly.

Indeed, it appears likely that Mueller’s legalistic pussyfooting may have emboldened the president. Trump made the ill-fated call to Ukraine’s president one day after the special counsel testified before Congress. As Michael Tomasky puts it, “Trump clearly watched Mueller, saw that he was a patsy, and decided he could do anything.”

The Ukraine caper, however, involving, as it does, presidential power, isn’t merely far worse than anything Mueller uncovered about the Trump team’s pussy-footing around with Russian intelligence operatives back in 2016. It’s also—and this could prove crucially important—a single, discrete event that’s a whole lot easier to understand. A thousand gangster films from the The Godfather to The Sopranos have given Americans a pretty good idea how protection rackets work.

There’s never been a graver political scandal in U.S. history. Think about it: A president withholding military aid from a country under attack by Russia in order to force its government to launch a criminal investigation into his opponent’s family.

It’s bribery and it’s treason, both of which Article II of the U.S. Constitution stipulates as grounds for impeachment and removal.

Political calculations aside, Congress has no choice but to proceed.