White House to seek ‘massive’ Ukraine aid package, officials say
The White House is preparing to send a new funding request to Congress as soon as Thursday for additional Ukraine aid that’s likely to be designed to last for the next five months, administration officials said.
The officials would not provide a specific dollar amount, describing the request only as “massive.” Some details were still not finalized, the officials said.
The amount is intended to fund U.S. military, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine through the end of the current federal fiscal year on Oct. 1, the officials said.
Canada sanctions more than 200 loyal to Putin
OTTAWA, Ontario — The Canadian government said Wednesday that it has imposed sanctions on more than 200 people who are loyal to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
Russian forces have been backing separatist rebels in the Donbas area for eight years following Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
The Canadian sanctions are focused on the renewed Russian attempt to annex areas of the Donbas by targeting people attempting to support the next phase of the two-month-old Russian war on Ukraine.
“Canada will not stand idly by and watch President Putin and his accomplices attempt to redraw the borders of Ukraine with impunity,” Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement. “International law must be respected.”
Global Affairs Canada, the governmental department that manages the country’s diplomatic relations, said the new measures target 11 senior officials and 192 other members of the People’s Councils of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk for supporting Putin’s attack on the area.
Biden to meet with Italian prime minister about Ukraine
ROME — The prime minister's office said Premier Mario Draghi will meet President Joe Biden in Washington on May 10.
Draghi’s office said in a statement Wednesday that Ukraine will be at the center of discussions, including coordinated measures “to support the Ukrainian population and to counter Russia’s unjustified aggression.”
The leaders will also discuss energy security. Italy is among the European countries that get large proportions of their natural gas from Russia. Draghi and his ministers have been working to get alternative sources.
Biden to tour facility making weapons for war
WASHINGTON — The White House said President Joe Biden will tour a Lockheed Martin facility that makes weapons systems, such as Javelin anti-tank missiles, that the administration is providing to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia’s two-month-old invasion.
Biden plans to visit the facility in Alabama on May 3.
A Javelin is a long-range guided anti-tank missile that can be carried by one person. The U.S. says it has provided several thousand of the systems to Ukraine.
Russia withdraws from U.N. tourism organization
MADRID — Russia announced Wednesday it was withdrawing from the United Nations World Tourism Organization just hours before the body’s assembly voted to suspend the country’s membership over the invasion of Ukraine, officials said.
The organization's secretary general, Zurab Pololikashvili, made the announcement on his official Twitter account. He said it was the first U.N. body to address Russia’s membership.
The organization went ahead and approved the suspension at a special meeting Wednesday in Madrid, where it has its headquarters.
“Putin’s military offensive is an attack on the founding principles of the United Nations and on the values that tourism represents, such as peace, prosperity and universal respect and the observance of human rights,” Spanish Industry, Trade and Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said in a statement following the decision.
The resolution included a clause that said the suspension could be reversed if a change in the politics of the Russian Federation were noted.
Spain was one of 22 European countries that had promoted the motion.
Mariupol officials claim third mass grave discovered near city
Mariupol city officials say that they have discovered evidence of a third mass grave in and around the besieged southern Ukrainian city.
Mariupol City Council officials said in a statement posted on their Telegram channel that the discovery was made using satellite imagery captured by the U.S. company Planet Labs. It was first reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
“The satellite recorded the excavated trenches on the territory of the Staryi Krym cemetery. They appeared on March 24, after the village was occupied by the Russians,” officials said, adding that they estimated that the burial site grew from 200 feet on March 24 to 650 feet on April 24.
Mariupol Mayor Vadim Boychenko claimed in the statement that Russian forces have enlisted local residents to help with burials in exchange for supplies. “They told us that you need to work hours to give you food and water,” he said. NBC News could not independently verify the claims.
Officials in the city have said satellite images released last Thursday were evidence of a mass grave in the village of Manhush, west of Mariupol.
What appeared to be another mass grave was discovered Friday in the village of Vynohradne, east of Mariupol, said Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the city’s mayor.
In a statement, Maxar, a U.S. government contractor, said the images, taken in Manhush from mid-March through mid-April, show that more than 200 new graves began to appear toward the end of March and expanded in April.
E.U. proposes lifting duties on Ukraine imports for one year
The European Union proposed Wednesday to suspend duties on imports from Ukraine for a year, calling it an “unprecedented gesture of support.”
The move was made to help boost Ukraine’s economy and its exports to the trading bloc of 27 countries after Russia’s invasion. The proposal must be agreed to by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union before it takes effect.
“This shows the European Union’s unwavering commitment to helping Ukraine in its hour of need,” E.U. Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis wrote on Twitter.
Trade between the bloc and Ukraine was worth around $54.8 million last year, according to the E.U.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal confirmed the effort and said Ukraine has “thwarted the enemy’s plans for a complete blockade of our economy.”
Graphic: The 10 European countries most reliant on foreign oil and natural gas
Russian oil makes up 8 percent of U.S. oil imports. In most European countries, that number is much higher. About half import most of their oil, and of that imported oil, an average of 20 percent comes from Russia.
Bulgaria is not among the 10 European countries most reliant on foreign oil.