Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrived in Kyiv early yesterday in a show of support ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Returning to Kyiv today, one year since the start of the war,” Sanchez wrote on Twitter, along with a video showing him stepping off a train in the Ukrainian capital.
“We will stand with Ukraine and its people until peace returns to Europe,” he wrote in Spanish and Ukrainian.
Photo: AFP / La Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa
Sanchez was scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy later in the day on what is his second visit to Kyiv since the war began on Feb. 24 last year, his office said.
The visit comes shortly after US President Joe Biden made a surprise trip to Kyiv, his first since the invasion began. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived the following day.
TANK PLEDGES
Spanish Minister of Defense Margarita Robles on Wednesday said that Spain would send six of its German-made Leopard tanks to bolster Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
Finland yesterday said it would send three Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, the latest Western country to pledge heavier weapons.
“We will send more defense materiel and participate in the Leopard cooperation together with our partners,” Finnish Minister of Defense Mikko Savola said in a statement.
Savola said at a news conference that the vehicles being sent were a modified version of the Leopard 2 platform, designed for clearing mines and other explosives.
“These don’t have a cannon, these have a machine gun. These are specifically for mine clearance,” Savola said.
Sweden is also preparing to send Ukraine the advanced Archer artillery system, but support in its parliament has been growing to additionally contribute some of the country’s approximately 120 Leopard tanks.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as the UN General Assembly met in a special session.
“That invasion is an affront to our collective conscience,” Guterres said, calling the anniversary “a grim milestone for the people of Ukraine and for the international community.”
As fighting raged on in Ukraine, the assembly began debating a motion backed by Kyiv and its allies calling for a “just and lasting peace.”
While the measure is not as tough as Ukraine would like, it is hoping that a large majority of UN members back the non-binding resolution to demonstrate that Kyiv has the support of the global community.
Dozens of countries have sponsored the resolution, which expresses “the need to reach, as soon as possible, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine in line with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
It reaffirms the UN’s “commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” and calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
It also demands that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS