US believes Ukraine can beat Russia with 'right equipment'

The United States believes Ukraine can win the war against Russia if it has the "right equipment", Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Monday, following a landmark trip to Kyiv alongside Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The visit comes as the war entered its third month, with thousands dead and millions displaced. The conflict has triggered an outburst of support from Western nations that has seen a deluge of weapons pour into Ukraine.

"The first step in winning is believing that you can win. And so they believe that we can win," Austin told a group of journalists after he and Blinken met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"We believe that we can win, they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support."

Austin went on to say that the US hoped the Russian military would be exhausted in Ukraine, preventing it from launching further invasions in the future.

"We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine," said Austin. For months, Zelensky has been begging for heavy weapons-including artillery and fighter jets-from western countries, vowing his forces could turn the tide of the war with more firepower.

The calls appear to be resonating, with a host of NATO countries pledging in recent days to provide a range of heavy weapons and equipment to Ukraine, despite protests from Moscow.

The US has been a leading donor of finance and weaponry to Ukraine and a key sponsor of sanctions targeting Russia, but had not yet sent any top officials to Kyiv, while several European leaders had travelled there to underscore their support.

Austin and Blinken said US diplomats will begin a gradual return to Ukraine this week and announced $700 million (653 million euros) in additional military aid.

A 72-year-old grandmother who named a popular snack after the "widow" of President Nicolas Maduro-still very

much alive-has become the latest casualty of a Venezuelan hate speech law denounced by rights defenders.

Olga Mata was arrested last week after posting a comedic video on TikTok in which she posed as a food vendor advertising a type of arepa, a maize snack, named after Maduro's wife Cilia Flores.

The arepa in question is usually called a "widow" in Venezuela for not having any filling. When a voice off camera points out that Flores is not yet a widow, Mata responds: "Right... but it is what we all want." Another arepa featured in the clip was named after attorney general Tarek William Saab, who ordered Mata's arrest for "promoting hate".

Her son, Florencio Gil, was detained for "instigating the assassination of public personalities."

According to rights group Espacio Publico (Public Space), Venezuela's socalled "Law against Hate" was used to charge people in 17 criminal cases last year. The law was passed in 2017 by a loyalist "Constitutional Assembly" created by Maduro and which replaced the then opposition-controlled National Assembly.

It provides for sentences of up to 20 years in jail for actions deemed "incitement of hatred." After a public outcry, Saab on Monday announced Mata had been charged and released under order to report to court every 30 days.

She was also made to release a new video apologizing for the first one.

Her son was cleared of all charges.

"It is a way to make us feel like prisoners, even if we are not in a cell," Mata said after her release.

Her case is but the most recent one. In March last year, journalist Milagros Mata and poet Juan Munoz were arrested for "incitement to hatred" after publishing a satirical text entitled "Mortal Wedding" on Facebook. It poked fun at an extravagant wedding celebrated at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and was said to have been attended by Saab. Both people were later conditionally freed.

In 2018, two firefighters, Ricardo Prieto and Carlos Varon, were detained for 48 days over a viral video in which they showed a donkey they named "President Maduro."

For Espacio Publico director Carlos Correa, the "Law against Hate" had a vague definition of what constitutes hate speech, and disproportionate penalties.

"It causes people to refrain not only joking, but also from talking about matters of public interest such as denouncing corruption," Correa told.