News about Eastern Europe such as Russia, Ukraine, Romania and the Baltic Nations, including archived articles on Tsarizm.
In addition to the Biden administration sending an additional $2.2 billion in military aid to Ukraine, this round will include longer-range rockets that Kyiv has been eager to receive. The donation of longer-range rockets comes a week after the U.S. and Germany announced that they would be sending M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
De Gaulle harshly criticized the recent decision by the United States and its European allies to supply heavy tanks to Ukraine, warning that the move puts the world on the brink of World War III. “This is the abyss on the edge of which we are standing,” he told Russian media.
A Russian company is not happy that the U.S. and Germany have agreed to send M1 Abrams and the sophisticated Leopard tanks to Ukraine. The company is so disgruntled about it that it has issued a bounty for the destruction of the tanks.
During a press conference Monday to discuss an upcoming trip to Poland, President Biden announced that the U.S. will not be sending F-16 jets to Ukraine, despite growing pressure from some European countries and reportedly from some Pentagon officials. When asked by reporters if he would provide Ukraine with F-16 jets, he answered with a simple “no.”
Lynne Tracy, the United States’ new ambassador to Russia, arrived at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow for the first time to chants of “war is a U.S. business” and “America is a terrorist country.”
The Biden administration is refusing to say whether or not it intends to provide Ukraine with radioactive depleted uranium rounds to accompany the Bradley Fighting Vehicles the U.S. intends to provide Kyiv.
On Thursday, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen announced that the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group is among numerous Russian entities being sanctioned for their involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine. The most recent round of sanctions from both the Treasury and Department of State target the individuals and organizations supporting the infrastructure of Putin’s war in Ukraine.
In an effort to decrease Vladimir Putin’s ability to fund the war in Ukraine that Russia started in February 2022, the U.S. and other Western countries have imposed heavy sanctions on Russia. Since invading Ukraine, Russia has lost access to roughly half of its gold and foreign currency reserves.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that it will be increasing the production of artillery ammunition by 500% over the next two years due to depleted military stockpiles caused by sending millions of shells to Ukraine.
After weeks of debate within the Biden administration and building pressure from Germany and some members of Congress, the administration has announced that it will send 30 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine in what is being seen as a breakthrough. The debate as to whether or not to send Western-made tanks to Ukraine has also been a source of division amid NATO allies.