Russia Ukraine War: US sending more anti-aircraft systems, drones to Ukraine

President Joe Biden said on Wednesday the US is sending more anti-aircraft, anti-armour weapons and drones to Ukraine to assist in its defense against Russia. The president's comments came as he formally announced his administration was sending an additional USD 800 million in military assistance to Ukraine, making a total of USD 2 billion in such aid sent to Kyiv since Biden took office more than a year ago. About USD 1 billion in aid has been sent in just the last week. “We're going to give Ukraine the arms to fight and defend themselves through all the difficult days ahead," Biden said. Biden spoke hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a video address to members of US Congress in which he made an impassioned plea for the US and West to provide more help to save his young democracy than world leaders have so far pledged to provide.

Pope Francis and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church spoke on the phone Wednesday about Ukraine and the need for a “just peace,” the Russian church said, in the first known communication between the two leaders since the Kremlin's invasion.

The call was all the more remarkable because Francis and Kirill have only met once — at the Havana airport in 2016 — in what was then the first encounter between a pope and Russian patriarch in over 1,000 years.

Wednesday's call came just hours after Francis evoked the spectre of a “final catastrophe” of an atomic war that would extinguish humanity during his weekly general audience.

While Francis didn't reference Ukraine explicitly in that part of his speech, he did elsewhere call for prayers for Ukraine and for God to protect its children and forgive those who make war.

Francis' long-term goal to improve relations with Kirill and avoid antagonising the Russian Orthodox Church had explained his initially tepid responses to the Feb.24 Russian invasion.

The United Nations' highest court on Wednesday ordered Russia to stop hostilities in Ukraine, granting measures requested by Kyiv although many are sceptical that Russia will comply. Two weeks ago, Ukraine asked the International Court of Justice - also known as the World Court - to intervene, arguing Russia violated the 1948 Genocide Convention by falsely accusing Ukraine of committing genocide and using that as a pretext for the ongoing invasion.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has categorically ruled out any role for the military organisation in setting up and policing a no-fly zone over Ukraine to protect against Russian airstrikes. Stoltenberg says “NATO should not deploy forces on the ground or in the air space over Ukraine because we have a responsibility to ensure that this conflict, this war, doesn't escalate beyond Ukraine.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly appealed for NATO to set up a no-fly zone given Russia's air superiority, as civilian casualties mount three weeks into the war.

Both Russia and Ukraine projected optimism ahead of another scheduled round of talks Wednesday, even as Moscow's forces rained fire on Kyiv and other major cities in a bid to crush the resistance that has frustrated Kremlin hopes for a lightning victory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, went before the US Congress via video and, invoking Pearl Harbor and 9/11, pleaded with America for more weapons and tougher sanctions against Russia, saying: “We need you right now.”

With Moscow's ground advance on the Ukrainian capital stalled, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said a neutral military status for Ukraine was being "seriously discussed” by the two sides, while Zelenskyy said Russia's demands for ending the war were becoming “more realistic.”

Kyiv residents huddled in homes and shelters amid a citywide curfew that runs until Thursday morning, as Russia shelled areas in and around the city.

A 12-story apartment building in central Kyiv erupted in flames after being hit by shrapnel.

The World Health Organisation said Wednesday its evaluation of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine has been postponed for the time being, due to the “uneven situation.”

WHO vaccines expert Dr. Mariangela Simao said at a press briefing that the U.N. health agency's officials had originally been scheduled to visit Russia on March 7 to assess the facilities where Sputnik V is produced — just weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine.

“These inspections were postponed for a later date,” Simao said. “The assessment, along with inspections, have been affected because of the situation,” she said, explaining that booking flights had been difficult and that there had been issues with credit cards “and some more operational issues.” Western countries largely closed their airspace to Russian planes after Russia invaded Ukraine and slapped wide-ranging sanctions on Russian financial institutions.

“This has been discussed with the Russian applicants and new dates will be set as soon as possible,” Simao said.

The WHO has been evaluating Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for an emergency use authorisation since last year.

The authorisation would allow Sputnik V to be purchased as part of the UN.-backed COVAX effort to distribute vaccines worldwide, and would lend credibility to a shot that has been often maligned.

A late-stage study published in the journal Lancet in 2020 in more than 20,000 participants found that Sputnik V was safe and about 91% effective against infection and highly effective at preventing people from becoming severely ill with COVID-19.

But last October, South Africa's drug regulator rejected the shot, citing some safety concerns the Russian manufacturer wasn't able to answer. South African officials said they were concerned that the technology used in the Sputnik V shot might not be safe in a population with high rates of HIV.

The European Medicines Agency has said its evaluation of Sputnik V remains ongoing.

The shot has been given the green light in more than 70 countries. To date no significant safety problems have been identified.

 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the US is putting pressure on China, Turkey, and a number of other countries because of cooperation with Russia.

"It's just the rudeness that is erupting from Washington, I don't know, it's beyond," Lavrov said, commenting on US actions against other countries in a TV interview, RT reported.

"It is even more striking that this kind of blackmail is used against such ancient civilisations as China, India, Egypt, the demands were made on the same Turks," he said.

"This is a fateful moment, this is an epochal moment in modern history, because it reflects the 'battle' in the broadest sense of the word for how the world order will look," he said in an interview with RBC TV channel.

The West did not want to solve the situation around Ukraine by peace, Lavrov said in response to the question why the Ukraine matter could not be resolved peacefully.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11 terror attacks on Wednesday as he appealed to the US Congress to do more to help Ukraine's fight against Russia, but acknowledged the no-fly zone he has sought to “close the sky” over his country may not happen.
Livestreamed into the Capitol complex, Zelenskyy said the US must sanction Russian lawmakers and block imports. He showed a packed auditorium of lawmakers a graphic video of the destruction and devastation his country has suffered in the war, along with heartbreaking scenes of civilian casualties.
“We need you right now,” Zelenskyy said, adding, "I call on you to do more.” In urging a steeper economic hit to the Russians, he said: “Peace is more important than income.” Lawmakers gave him a standing ovation, before and after his short remarks, which Zelenskyy began in Ukrainian through an interpreter but then switched to English in a heartfelt appeal to help end the bloodshed.
“I see no sense in life if it cannot stop the deaths,” he told them.

Ukraine is grateful to the US for their overwhelming support: President Zelensky addresses a joint session of US Congress

Japan’s prime minister says his country will revoke Russia’s “most favored nation” trade status over its invasion of Ukraine, as Tokyo steps up sanctions against Moscow in line with other Group of Seven countries.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters Wednesday that Japan is also barring the export of luxury products to Russia and is to stop importing selected Russian goods.

He said Japan will also step up efforts to prevent Russia from obtaining loans from global financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund.

The measures are the latest Japan has taken against Moscow in recent weeks. Japan has also frozen the assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and top officials and billionaires close to him and banned exports of high technology goods that could be used for military purposes.

Japan will also step up humanitarian support for the Ukrainians, including shipping medical supplies and other relief goods, while taking in those who flee the country, Kishida said.

• Russia says Ukraine talks are progressing but military onslaught continues
• Ukraine’s president is preparing to make a direct appeal to the U.S. Congress for more help
• Ukraine sees possible room for compromise in talks with Russia despite new assaults on Mariupol
• Mariupol descends into despair
• Russia could default - what then?
• U.S. President Joe Biden will travel to Europe next week for face-to-face talks with European leaders about Russia’s invasion

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address the US Congress, the actor-turned-wartime leader's latest video speech as he uses the West's great legislative bodies as a global stage to orchestrate support against Russia's crushing invasion.

Zelenskyy's livestreamed address Wednesday into the US Capitol will be among the most important in a very public strategy in which he has invoked Winston Churchill, Hamlet and the power of world opinion in his fight to stop Russia.

Nearing the three-week mark in an ever-escalating war, Zelenskyy has used his campaign to implore allied leaders to “close the sky” to prevent the Russian airstrikes that are devastating his country. It has also put Zelenskyy at odds with President Joe Biden, whose administration has stopped short of providing a no-fly zone or the transfer of military jets from neighbouring Poland as the US seeks to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia.

Instead, Biden will deliver his own address following Zelenskyy's speech, in which he is expected to announce an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine, according to a White House official. That would bring the total announced in the last week alone to $1 billion. It includes money for anti-armor and air-defence weapons, according to the official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Appearing in his now-trademark army green T-shirt as he appeals to world leaders, Zelenskyy has emerged as a heroic figure at the centre of what many view as the biggest security threat to Europe since World War II. Almost 3 million refugees have fled Ukraine, the fastest exodus in modern times.

Invoking Shakespeare's hero last week, he asked the British House of Commons whether Ukraine is “to be or not to be.” On Tuesday, he appealed to “Dear Justin” as he addressed the Canadian Parliament and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Zelenskyy called on European Union leaders at the start of the war to do the politically unthinkable and fast-track Ukraine's membership — and he has continued to push for more help to save his young democracy than world leaders have so far pledged to do.

”I know he will ask for more help,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Biden has insisted there will be no US troops on the ground in Ukraine and has resisted Zelenskyy's relentless pleas for warplanes as too risky, potentially escalating into a direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.

“Direct conflict between NATO and Russia is World War III,” Biden has said.

US defence officials say they are puzzled by Zelenskyy's demand for more warplanes. They say Ukraine isn't often flying the planes it has now, while

making good use of other weapons the West is providing, including Stinger missiles for shooting down helicopters and other aircraft.

While officials are anticipating that Zelenskyy may once again call on the US and the West for fighter jets or help establishing a no-fly zone, the Biden administration is looking to send Ukraine “more of what's been working well,” according to an official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Already the Biden administration has sent Ukraine more than 600 Stinger missiles, 2,600 Javelin anti-armor systems, unmanned aerial system tracking radars; grenade launchers, 200 shotguns, 200 machine guns and nearly 40 million rounds of small arms ammunition, along with helicopters, patrol boats, satellite imagery and body armor, helmets, and other tactical gear, the official said.

Even though Zelenskyy and Biden speak almost daily by phone, the Ukrainian president has found a potentially more receptive audience in Congress.

This won't be the first time he has appealed directly to members of the House and Senate, who have remained remarkably unified in their support of Ukraine. Nearly two weeks ago, Zelenskyy delivered a desperate plea to some 300 lawmakers and staff on a private call that if they could not enforce a no-fly zone, at least send more planes.

"We think the United States needs to do more," said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., returning from a weekend visit with other lawmakers to Poland.Congress has already approved $13.6 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, and the newly announced security aid will come from that allotment, which is part of a broader bill that Biden signed into law Tuesday. But lawmakers expect more aid will be needed.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Zelenskyy asked for help in rebuilding his country when they spoke last week. It was in that call that Zelenskyy asked to address the US Congress, something the Democratic leader readily agreed to.

“The Congress, our country and the world are in awe of the people of Ukraine,” said Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a statement Monday announcing the address.

They said Congress “remains unwavering in our commitment to supporting Ukraine as they face Putin's cruel and diabolical aggression.” Zelenskyy's next stop could be Spain. The speaker of Spain's Congress of Deputies has invited the Ukrainian president to address Spanish lawmakers via videolink.

In a letter to Zelenskyy, Speaker Meritxell Batet wrote that the address “will be a magnificent opportunity for the chamber, all Spanish people and the thousands of Ukrainians living in Spain to listen to your message and express our firmest support.”

 The bodies of the children all lie here, dumped into this narrow trench hastily dug into the frozen earth of Mariupol to the constant drumbeat of shelling.
There's 18-month-old Kirill, whose shrapnel wound to the head proved too much for his little toddler's body. There's 16-year-old Iliya, whose legs were blown up in an explosion during a soccer game at a school field. There's the girl no older than 6 who wore the pajamas with cartoon unicorns, among the first of Mariupol's children to die from a Russian shell.

They are stacked together with dozens of others in this mass grave on the outskirts of the city. A man covered in a bright blue tarp, weighed down by stones at the crumbling curb. A woman wrapped in a red and gold bedsheet, her legs neatly bound at the ankles with a scrap of white fabric. Workers toss the bodies in as fast as they can, because the less time they spend in the open, the better their own chances of survival.

“The only thing (I want) is for this to be finished,” raged worker Volodymyr Bykovskyi, pulling crinkling black body bags from a truck. “Damn them all, those people who started this!”

More bodies will come, from streets where they are everywhere and from the hospital basement where adults and children are laid out awaiting someone to pick them up. The youngest still has an umbilical stump attached.

Each airstrike and shell that relentlessly pounds Mariupol — about one a minute at times — drives home the curse of a geography that has put the city squarely in the path of Russia's domination of Ukraine. This southern seaport of 430,000 has become a symbol of Russian President Vladimir Putin's drive to crush democratic Ukraine — but also of a fierce resistance on the ground.

In the nearly three weeks since Russia's war began, two Associated Press journalists have been the only international media present in Mariupol, chronicling its fall into chaos and despair. The city is now encircled by Russian soldiers, who are slowly squeezing the life out of it, one blast at a time.

Several appeals for humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians went unheeded, until Ukrainian officials said Tuesday that about 4,000 passenger cars carrying civilians had fled Mariupol in a convoy. Airstrikes and shells have hit the maternity hospital, the fire department, homes, a church, a field outside a school. For the estimated hundreds of thousands who remain, there is quite simply nowhere to go.

The surrounding roads are mined and the port blocked. Food is running out, and the Russians have stopped humanitarian attempts to bring it in. Electricity is mostly gone and water is sparse, with residents melting snow to drink. Some parents have even left their newborns at the hospital, perhaps hoping to give them a chance at life in the one place with decent electricity and water.

People burn scraps of furniture in makeshift grills to warm their hands in the freezing cold and cook what little food there still is. The grills themselves are built with the one thing in plentiful supply: bricks and shards of metal scattered in the streets from destroyed buildings.

Death is everywhere. Local officials have tallied more than 2,500 deaths in the siege, but many bodies can't be counted because of the endless shelling. They have told families to leave their dead outside in the streets because it's too dangerous to hold funerals.

Many of the deaths documented by the AP were of children and mothers, despite Russia's claims that civilians haven't been attacked. Doctors say they are treating 10 civilians for every injured Ukrainian soldier.

“They have a clear order to hold Mariupol hostage, to mock it, to constantly bomb and shell it,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on March 10.

Just weeks ago, Mariupol's future seemed much brighter.

If geography drives a city's destiny, Mariupol was on the path to success, with its thriving iron and steel plants, a deep-water port and high global demand for both. Even the dark weeks of 2014, when the city nearly fell to Russia-backed separatists in vicious street battles, were fading into memory.

And so the first few days of the invasion had a perverse familiarity for many residents. About 100,000 people left at that time while they still could, according to Serhiy Orlov, the deputy mayor. But most stayed put, figuring they could wait out whatever came next or eventually make their way west like so many others.

“I felt more fear in 2014, I don't feel the same panic now,” Anna Efimova said as she shopped for supplies at a market on Feb. 24. “There is no panic. There's nowhere to run, where can we run?”

That same day, a Ukrainian military radar and airfield were among the first targets of Russian artillery. Shelling and airstrikes could and did come at any moment, and people spent most of their time in shelters.?Life was hardly normal, but it was livable.

By Feb. 27, that started to change, as an ambulance raced into a city hospital carrying a small motionless girl. Her brown hair was pulled back off her pale face with a rubber band, and her pajama pants were bloodied by Russian shelling. She was no older than 6.

Her wounded father came with her, his head bandaged. Her mother stood outside the ambulance, weeping.

As the doctors and nurses huddled around her, one gave her an injection. Another shocked her with a defibrillator. A doctor in blue scrubs, pumping oxygen into her, looked straight into the camera of an AP journalist allowed inside and cursed.

“Show this to Putin,” he stormed with expletive-laced fury. “The eyes of this child and crying doctors.”

They couldn't save her. Doctors covered the tiny body with her pink striped jacket and gently closed her eyes. She now rests in the mass grave.

 Russia’s chief negotiator in talks with Ukraine says the sides are discussing a possible compromise whereby Ukraine will in future have a smaller, non-aligned military.

“A whole range of issues tied with the size of Ukraine’s army is being discussed,” Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said Wednesday, according to Russian news agencies. “Ukraine is proposing an Austrian or Swedish option of a neutral state, but a state that has its own army and navy.”

There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials. It’s not clear how such an option would work if the future Ukrainian military remains hostile to Russia.

Medinsky said the issues are being discussed in the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries.

He noted that a key question is the status of Crimea, annexed by Russia, and the separatist-held Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, which Russia recognizes as independent. Ukraine considers both part of its territory.

A new round of Ukraine-Russia talks about the war is expected later Wednesday.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said as per feedback received from the industry, exports of certain products such as pharmaceuticals, telecom instruments, tea, coffee, and marine goods from India are likely to be affected due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

He added that the Department of Commerce is apprised of the present situation and holding regular consultation with all stakeholders to ensure availability of essential imports.

A more precise implication of the post-war scenario can be assessed only after the situation stabilises, he said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

"As per the feedback received from the industry, exports of some products from India are likely to be affected including pharmaceuticals, telecom instruments, tea, coffee, marine products, etc," Goyal said.

Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show a suspected Ukrainian strike on the Russian-held Kherson International Airport and Air Base set several helicopters and vehicles ablaze.

The images Tuesday at the dual-use airfield show thick black smoke rising overhead from the blazes.
At least three helicopters appeared to be on fire, as well as several vehicles.
At a pad further away, other helicopters appeared damaged from an earlier strike.

Ukraine's president was preparing to make a direct appeal for more help in a rare speech by a foreign leader to the US Congress, even as Russia continued its bombardment of the Ukrainian capital Wednesday. Three weeks into the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested there was reason for optimism that negotiations with the Russian government might yet yield an agreement.

A plume of smoke was seen rising up over western Kyiv on Wednesday morning after shrapnel from an artillery shell slammed into a 12-story apartment building in central Kyiv, obliterating the top floor and igniting a fire, according to a statement and images released by the Kyiv emergencies agency. The neighboring building was also damaged. The agency reported two victims, without elaborating.

Secretary of the Zaporizhzhia City Council Anatoliy Kurtev confirmed reports of explosion at the city’s railway station.

A 12-story residential building in Kyiv’s central Shevchenkivsky district was hit early on March 16. Two people were injured and 37 evacuated, according to the State Emergency Service.

Ukraine said it saw possible room for compromise in talks with Russia despite Moscow's stepped up bombardment Tuesday of Kyiv and new assaults on the port city of Mariupol, from where an estimated 20,000 civilians managed to flee through a humanitarian corridor.

The fast-moving developments on the diplomatic front and on the ground came as Russia's invasion neared the three-week mark and the number of Ukrainians who have left the country amid Europe's heaviest fighting since World War II eclipsed 3 million.

The 44th Chess Olympiad, which was moved out of Russia after it invaded Ukraine, will be organised in Chennai later this year, making it the second major global event of the sport to be held in India after the World Championship match in 2013. The announcement was made by Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on his Twitter page on Tuesday night.

Russia escalated its bombardment of the Ukrainian capital and launched new assaults on the port city of Mariupol, making bloody advances on the ground as Ukraine's president prepared Wednesday to make a direct appeal for more help in a rare speech by a foreign leader to the US Congress.

As the invasion entered its third week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested there was still some reason to be optimistic negotiations might yet yield an agreement with the Russian government.

Ukrainian military strikes number of Russian military helicopters at Kherson International Airport. According to new satellite images from Planet Labs, the strike set on fire, or destroyed, at least three helicopters and military vehicles stationed at the airport.

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution late Tuesday seeking investigations of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime for war crimes over the invasion of Ukraine. The bipartisan measure from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says the Senate strongly condemns the “violence, war crimes. crimes against humanity” being carried out Russian military forces under Putin’s direction. It encourages international criminal courts to investigate Putin, his security council and military leaders for possible war crimes.

China is willing to help out Russia in facing western sanctions brought on by the invasion of Ukraine but only to that extent where it itself does not face sanctions and its internal food security is not compromised. Faced with the escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict, President Xi Jinping sounded a rare alert, calling on his country to produce more food to reduce dependence on foreign markets. "The rice bowls of the Chinese people must be filled with Chinese grain."

The United States on Tuesday (local time) said India would not be violating US sanctions by purchasing discounted Russian oil but added that such a move would put the world's largest democracy on the "wrong side of history". Asked about the reports of India considering a Russian offer to buy crude oil and other commodities at discount prices a week after the US banned all Russian energy imports, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Joe Biden administration's message would be for countries to abide by US sanctions.

Ukraine has claimed killing Major General Oleg Mityaev in Mariupol, making him the fourth Russian general slain in ongoing fighting; Kiev says Mityaev commanded 150th motorised rifle division and had fought in Syria

The fourth round of talks between Russia and Ukraine that started on Monday will continue through Wednesday, even as a Ukrainian negotiator spoke of "fundamental differences" between the two sides. "We will continue tomorrow... There are fundamental contradictions. But, of course, there is room for compromise," Volodymyr Zelenskyy's top aide Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on his Telegram channel as reported by Sputnik News Agency.

Oil prices tumbled more than 6 per cent, adding to Monday's drop of more than 5 per cent, as both the New York- and London-traded benchmarks settled below the key USD 100 per barrel mark for the first time since the start of Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine. Crude prices were also pressured by a ramp-up in new coronavirus cases in major consumer China and over concerns about near-term demand expressed by oil exporter group OPEC.

Air raid alerts have been sounded in several major cities and oblasts. Sirens have been activated in Cherkasy, Dnipro, Lviv, Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Odesa, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, and Khmelnytskyi Oblasts.

NATO drawing up plans for new ways to deter Russia, including more troops and missile defenses in eastern Europe, reported Reuters.

Fox News has confirmed that Oleksandra Kuvshynova, a Ukrainian reporter who worked as a consultant for the network, also died in yesterday's attack near Kyiv. She was 24

Biden to announce $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine Wednesday: White House official

Russia has banned Canada PM Justin Trudeau along with over 300 Canadians from entering the country including Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie, Defense Minister Anita Anand, and almost all MPs, following Canada’s support of Ukraine, said Ukraine's The Kyiv Independent reports.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said 147 foreign nationals hailing from 18 countries were evacuated from the conflict situation in Ukraine as part of Operation Ganga and brought to India. "In line with India's principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, foreign nationals were also evacuated from conflict zones and brought to India. They included 147 citizens of 18 countries. Many Ukrainian nationals that are family members of Indian nationals have also been evacuated," Jaishankar said in a statement in the two Houses of Parliament on 'Situation in Ukraine'.

Russia President Vladimir Putin in a call with President of European Council Charles Michel discussed ongoing talks with Ukraine on an agreement that would take into account Russia’s earlier demands.Putin stressed that Kyiv not showing a serious commitment to consensual solutions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is planning to address the US Congress today, reported NEXTA.

We are concerned that Moscow could stage a false flag operation possibly including chemical weapons, in Ukraine. Any support to Russia, be it military or any other support will help it conduct brutal war against Ukraine, said NATO Secy-Gen Jens Stoltenberg.