Biden meets Zelenskyy at G7, announces $375M aid package
HIROSHIMA, JAPAN >> President Biden unveiled a $375 million military assistance package for Ukraine at the Group of Seven summit on Sunday, the latest pledge from Washington of aid that totals $37 billion since Russia’s war began. “Ukraine’s ability to defend itself is essential to being able to end this war permanently and through diplomacy,” Biden told a news conference in Hiroshima on Sunday. The package includes ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), antitank weapons, armored vehicles and other equipment, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Other key developments
• The International Criminal Court rebuked Russia’s move to add its top prosecutor to a wanted list. In a statement, it called the move “unjustified.” The court, which in March issued warrants for Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, said “coercive measures” will not deter it from ensuring accountability.
• German defense manufacturer Rheinmetall is looking to join hands with Ukrainian state-owned defense company Ukroboronprom to build German tanks, the company’s chief executive, Armin Papperger, told German newspaper Bild. The focus, he said, will remain on addressing Ukraine’s battlefield needs such as maintenance and repair before moving to manufacture armored vehicles.
• Russian forces killed one person and injured eight others in attacks across Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, its governor said on Telegram Sunday. Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said high-rise buildings, a hospital, a pharmacy, two shops and 16 private houses were damaged in the Russian attacks, which deployed missiles, artillery shells, airstrikes and rockets.
• About 70,000 Moldovans gathered in the capital Sunday to express their support for the country’s bid to join the European Union, speakers who addressed the demonstration said. The former Soviet Republic, which borders Ukraine and is governed by a pro-Western administration, has been subject to intensifying Russian pressure since the invasion of its neighbor. “Moldova’s place is undeniably within the EU,” President Maia Sandu tweeted.