U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will on Tuesday try to convince Ukraine and other European allies that President Joe Biden’s administration is still committed to supporting Kyiv, even as Washington’s funds run too low for it to be able to do so.
Austin will be leading the Ukraine defense contact group meeting at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Tuesday, with representatives from Ukraine and around 50 of its allies attending.
In other news, Russian President Vladimir Putin briefly attended an open-air rally in Moscow on Monday evening at which he told the crowd that the annexation of Crimea and other regions in Ukraine had been difficult but worthwhile. The rally and concert in Red Square marked the 10th anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. The annexation was a precursor to a simmering conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukraine’s armed forces in eastern Ukraine since 2014, and Russia’s wholesale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russian authorities in the Belgorod region are to evacuate around 9,000 children from the region, which borders Ukraine, because of repeated shelling by Ukraine’s armed forces, the governor said Tuesday.
“Today we are resettling a large number of villages,” Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said at a United Russia party meeting Tuesday, news agency Tass reported.
“We are now planning to remove about 9,000 children from Belgorod” and several districts in the wider region, he said.
The governor said 16 people were killed and 98 injured because of shelling in the Belgorod region over the past week.
CNBC was unable to immediately verify the claim. Belgorod has been a focal point for repeated Ukrainian strikes against Russian territory, however, although Kyiv rarely comments on such attacks.
— Holly Ellyatt
Putin’s reelection to a fifth term in office at the weekend was one of the least surprising political events so far this year, but it has prompted questions as to what we can expect from another six years of the strongman’s leadership.
Analysts share their views on what we can expect now that Putin has strengthened his grip on power, with the Ukraine war, domestic economic reforms and a possible government reshuffle key factors to watch.
Read more on the story here: War, reforms and a possible successor? Here’s what we could see from 6 more years of Putin
— Holly Ellyatt
Polish President Andrzej Duda said Monday that NATO must urgently increase its defense spending to ensure it does not become the next target of a Russian attack.
Speaking to CNBC, Duda cited unspecified German research which suggests that Russian President Vladimir Putin is doubling down on his shift toward a war economy with a view to attacking NATO in 2026 or 2027.
“The alarm bells are ringing,” he told Steve Sedgwick, according to a translation.
Duda said it was therefore more critical than ever to ramp up the alliance’s military spending to 3%, describing his increased target as “common sense.”
— Karen Gilchrist
Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson has so far refused to call a vote on a bill that would provide $60 billion more for Ukraine and the White House has been scrambling to find ways to send assistance to Kyiv, which has been battling Russian forces for more than two years.
Austin will be leading the monthly meeting known as the Ukraine defense contact group (UDCG), held at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, of about 50 allies that have been militarily supporting Ukraine.
The Pentagon said Austin, who is making his first overseas trip since a prostate cancer treatment, will reiterate that Washington is committed to Ukraine. But officials say the lack of funding available is already having an impact on the ground in Ukraine and Ukrainian forces are having to manage scarce resources.
Last week the Biden administration said it would send $300 million in military assistance to Ukraine, but added that it was an extraordinary move after unexpected savings from military contracts the Pentagon had made.
Officials have not ruled out that they could find additional savings, but they say that amount would not be enough to make up for the lack of Congressional action. Experts say that Austin will face a skeptical audience in Europe.
— Reuters
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