Category: Ukraine

Romania says could host 500,000 Ukraine refugees

Romania could take in half a million refugees from neighbouring Ukraine if the crisis with Russia worsens, Defense Minister Vasile Dancu said on Tuesday.

Dancu said he did not expect many people to flee to Romania, but the EU member was ready to host more than 500,000 refugees.

“This is the figure for which we are prepared,” Dancu told reporters.

Romania could set up reception centres, particularly in large towns along its 650-kilometre-long (400 miles) border with Ukraine, he said.

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On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised two Ukraine breakaway regions as independent and ordered in his troops, drawing wide-spread condemnation and growing fears of an all-out invasion.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD 

Putin warns hypersonic missiles are ready to launch & stockpiles blood ‘for war’ as Ukraine declares state of emergency

VLADIMIR Putin has warned “unparalleled” hypersonic missiles are ready for action and has been stockpiling blood, fuelling war fears.

Troops have also been on the move amid concern Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, could be next in his sights, as the country declares a state of emergency.

The world is waiting on Vladimir Putin’s next move
 
 
Satellite images showing a build up of medical supplies near the Ukraine borderCredit: AFP
 
 
Tanks were also spotted on roads as Russia beefed up its forces in rebel areasCredit: East2West
 
 
Massed Russian helicopters in BelarusCredit: East2West
 
With a huge 200,000 strong force encircling Ukraine, the world is on a knife edge waiting for Putin’s next move – which could see the bloodiest conflict in Europe since WW2.

Ukraine has now declared a state of emergency, allowing police to carry out random checks, and also announced all citizens will now be allowed to carry guns.

Putin has given a chilling warning that “weapons without parallel in the world have been put on combat duty”.

His threat was delivered on Defender of the Fatherland Day – three days after he watched two of the new missiles tested from a Bond villain style “situation room”.

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Europe, US Preparing To Impose Sanctions On Russia

Now that Putin has officially recognized the separatists regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent, sovereign states, warning that from this moment onward, Ukraine must halt all military actions against Donbas, or whatever happens next will be on them and the West, it was only a matter of time before Europe (and the West) retaliated with progressively escalating sanctions.

Sure enough, the ink wasn’t quite dry yet on Putin’s signature, when the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles tweeted that “the recognition of the two separatist territories in Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law, the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the Minsk agreements” adding that “The EU and its partners will react with unity, firmness and with determination in solidarity with Ukraine.”

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Putin has ordered Russian troops to invade Ukraine, U.S. intelligence reveals: Secretary of State Antony Blinken insist Putin’s threat to Ukraine is ‘deadly serious’

U.S. intelligence reveals Russian President Vladimir Putin has already given his troops orders to proceed with an invasion into Ukraine, according to a new Sunday report.

‘The intelligence says that Russian troops have actually received orders now to proceed with the invasion,’ CBS News’ David Martin told Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan.

‘So not only are they moving up closer and closer to the border and to these attack positions, but the commanders on the ground are making specific plans for how they would maneuver in their sector of the battlefield,’ he added.

‘They’re doing everything that American commanders would do once they got the order to proceed.’

Martin’s revelation comes after President Joe Biden said Friday that he is very certain that Putin has already made up his mind that he will attack Ukraine based on D.C’s ‘significant intelligence capability.’

Meanwhile, America’s top foreign affairs officials warned Sunday that Putin’s moves show that Russia is ‘dead serious’ about invading Ukraine, but insist there likely won’t be a threat to U.S. troops.

‘He’s assembled the kinds of things that you would need to conduct a successful invasion,’ Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told ABC’s Martha Raddatz of Putin in an interview tapped in Ukraine.

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Watch Live: President Biden Addresses The Russia/Ukraine Situation

Update (1700ET): The president is an hour late… and the delay just happens to coincide with the timing of breaking news from Ukraine of gas pipeline explosion in Luhansk?

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After an avalanche of escalating headlines – from exploding cars to mass graves and from shelling kindergartens to mass evacuations – President Biden stands ready to put the world straight on what narrative they should be paying attention to.

The White House’s official statement on the address is as follows:

President Biden gives an update on our continued efforts to pursue deterrence and diplomacy, and Russia’s buildup of military troops on the border of Ukraine.

The remarks will come after the president spoke with NATO leaders this afternoon as fears of an invasion are classified as “imminent” once again.

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Powerful Gas Pipeline Explosion Rocks Eastern Ukraine; Biden “Convinced By Intel” Putin Has Decided To Invade

(Update 5:30pm ET): Shortly after images of the gas pipeline explosion was reaching social media, President Biden appeared behind the lectern at The White House (an hour late) to tell the world that he’s “convinced” that Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to launch a further invasion in Ukraine, including an assault on its capital, Kyiv.

After weeks of saying the U.S. wasn’t sure if Putin had made the final decision to launch a widespread invasion, Biden said that assessment had changed, citing “significant intelligence capability.”

“As of this moment I’m convinced he’s made the decision,” Biden said.

“We have reason to believe that.” He reiterated that it could occur in the “coming days.”

“We believe they will target Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million innocent people,” he said of Russian forces.

But with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken scheduled to speak with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday, Biden said there is still time for negotiations to defuse the crisis.

“Diplomacy is always a possibility,” he said.

Meanwhile, US officials  are also convinced that Russia was responsible for the DDOS attacks in Ukraine this week

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Russia Says It Chased US Submarine Out Of Its Territorial Waters

Russia’s military on Saturday announced it had chased a US submarine from Russian waters in the far east, near the Pacific Kuril islands. Likely it will be contested by the Pentagon side that the submarine was ever in “Russian waters”, however, as the region is also claimed by Japan.

According to Reuters, “The Russian military said on Saturday it used ‘appropriate means’ to make a U.S. submarine leave Russian waters in the far east after the vessel ignored a Russian request to leave, Interfax news agency reported.”

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Russia issues warning to US Another round of negotiations between Moscow and Washington on Ukraine has been held ahead of crucial talks

Another round of Russia-US negotiations on the Ukraine crisis, on Saturday, saw Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warn his American counterpart, Antony Blinken against a “propaganda campaign” over an alleged plan by Moscow to attack Ukraine.

Both foreign and defense ministers of the two countries held phone conversations over “security issues of mutual interest,” ahead of crucial talks between the presidents of Russia and the US, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, in the evening.

According to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lavrov stressed that “the propaganda campaign launched by the United States and its allies about ‘Russian aggression’ against Ukraine pursues provocative goals,” which, in his opinion, involved encouraging Kiev “to sabotage the Minsk agreements,” as well as “harmful attempts to resolve the ‘Donbass problem’ by force.”

The foreign minister also said the US and NATO ignored key provisions of the Russian proposals for European security, including a ban on the alliance’s eastward expansion.

“It was emphasized that these issues would be a focus point of our review of the documents received from the US and NATO, which will be brought to the attention of colleagues,” the foreign ministry said following the conversation, which was initiated by the American side.

“I spoke with Foreign Minister Lavrov today to urge a diplomatic resolution to Russia’s unprovoked military build-up around Ukraine. I reiterated that further Russian aggression would be met with a resolute, massive, and united Transatlantic response,” Blinken said on Twitter.

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