Will These Asylum Seekers Be Called Rapists, Drug Runners And Thugs, By The Trump Faction Of The GOP?
Biden vows to take in 100,000 refugees, and to donate $1 billion to help European countries take in people fleeing the war.
As President Biden met on Thursday with world leaders for an extraordinary day of three summits in Brussels focused on the Ukraine war, the United States said it would take in 100,000 refugees fleeing the fighting.
As the West works to solidify its stance against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, the outgunned Ukrainian forces are several days into a counteroffensive that has scored some successes. On Thursday, the Ukrainians claimed to have added to their momentum by destroying a Russian landing ship at a southern Ukrainian port in Russian-occupied territory.
If confirmed, the attack would be a blow to the already beleaguered Russian forces struggling with logistical and resupply issues. The Russians had said the port was important to their efforts to bring supplies to their troops.
The three summits — with NATO, the Group of 7 and the European Union — come as concern is rising among Western leaders that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia may turn to unconventional weapons as its advance falters. NATO allies agreed on Thursday to provide Ukraine with equipment and training to deal with the fallout from any possible Russian attack using chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, and NATO is increasing its own preparedness for such an event, according to the alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine appeared via video link at the closed-door NATO meeting that started the day and made another urgent plea for help. “I am sure you already understand that Russia does not intend to stop in Ukraine,” he said, according to a transcript of his remarks released by the Ukrainian government. “Does not intend and will not. It wants to go further.”
In other major developments:
In addition to accepting 100,000 Ukrainian refugees into the country, the United States will donate $1 billion to help European nations deal with the surge of migrants, a person familiar with the decision said. More than three million Ukrainians have poured into Poland and other countries.
Russia’s assault on Ukraine has driven more than half the country’s children from their homes, the United Nations children’s agency said on Thursday, calling it one of the largest displacements of children since World War II.
Mr. Biden is not expected to press his European counterparts to cut off their flow of Russian energy. Instead, European leaders are expected to announce steps they will take, with the help of the United States, to reduce their dependence on it.
The Moscow Exchange resumed partial trading on Thursday for the first time in nearly a month. The index rose 4 percent, probably buoyed by government policies aimed at avoiding a sell-off.
Many Pregnant Women And Babies Have Already Died
The United Nations Population Fund, a leading provider of reproductive health care services, said it had shipped more than 13 metric tons of supplies, medicines and equipment into Ukraine. The agency said the shipments help cover the immediate reproductive health needs for 500,000 people. At the start of the war, there were an estimated 256,000 pregnant women in Ukraine with 80,000 expected to give birth in the next three months, the agency said.
As Ukrainian refugees flood into Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest countries says it is reaching a breaking point. With a population of just 2.6 million, Moldova has taken in 107,000 people, making it the highest per-capita recipient of those fleeing the war with Russia. They now account for over 4 percent of Moldova’s population.
The New York Times traveled to the country in March and met Ukrainians who have recently sought refuge there.
The country’s foreign minister, Nicu Popescu, told Times reporters that Moldova had planned for far fewer refugees — about 15,000. “It’s already bad now, but within days it can get significantly worse,” he warned.
As a non-European Union state, the country has had to fend largely for itself. Private citizens have taken in 90 percent of the Ukrainians who have arrived, including Veronika Khoronzhuk.
Ms. Khoronzhuk escaped the southern city of Mykolaiv with a newborn and a 5-year-old, as well as a friend who was injured by a Russian artillery shell.
“We didn’t tell the children it was a war,” she said. “We escaped the storm. There is no storm here.”
Half of Ukraine’s seven and half million children have been displaced from their homes since Russia invaded the country a month ago, the U.N. children’s agency says. It is the one of the largest displacements of children since World War II.