In a symbolic show of support for Ukraine’s fledgling government, US President Barack Obama was to host Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in the Oval Office yesterday after the leader of the former Soviet republic spoke to a rare joint session of Congress.
Poroshenko was set to arrive in Washington seeking more robust US military assistance to help his country in its fight against Russian-backed rebels. Obama so far has resisted Ukraine’s request for lethal assistance, though the US has provided about US$60 million in nonlethal aid to Ukraine’s military.
White House officials made clear that Poroshenko’s visit — his first to the US since being elected this summer — was aimed in part at sending a message to Russia about the West’s backing of the embattled former Soviet republic.
Photo: Reuters
“The picture of President Poroshenko sitting in the Oval Office will be worth at least a thousand words — both in English and Russian,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
Ukraine and Kremlin-backed separatists have been locked in a months-long fight for control of eastern Ukrainian cities that sit on Russia’s border, aggression that followed Russia’s annexation of the strategically important Crimean Peninsula.
The US and Western allies have condemned Russia’s provocations, levying a series of economic sanctions and restricting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s involvement in some international organizations.
However, the penalties have done little to shift Putin’s calculus. In recent weeks, the West has accused Russia of moving troops and equipment across its border with Ukraine, though the Kremlin denies such involvement.
Ukraine and the Russian-backed separatists inked a ceasefire agreement on Sept. 5, though the deal has been violated repeatedly.
On Wednesday, shelling in rebel-held parts of the east killed at least 12 civilians, as a top leader of pro-Russian rebels rejected Ukrainian legislation meant to end the unrest by granting self-rule to large swaths of the east.
Poroshenko, a billionaire businessman, won Ukraine’s presidential election in May after his country’s Russian-backed leader fled amid popular protests.
Western leaders have praised Poroshenko’s commitment to reform, and Obama was to press him yesterday for more aggressive political and economic actions that could stabilize the fragile nation.
At the heart of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is the former Soviet republic’s desire to strengthen ties with Europe.
Poroshenko has only deepened those efforts, making a high-profile appearance at the NATO summit this month and overseeing the backing of a deal this week to strengthen economic and political ties with Europe.
The deal lowers trade tariffs between Europe and Ukraine, requires Ukrainian goods to meet European regulatory standards and forces the Kiev government to undertake major political and economic reforms.
Following a vote by Ukrainian lawmakers, Poroshenko called the deal “a first but very decisive step” toward bringing Ukraine fully into the EU.
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
A judge in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for the British member of parliament and former British economic secretary to the treasury Tulip Siddiq, who is a niece of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August last year in a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule. The Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating allegations against Siddiq that she and her family members, including Hasina, illegally received land in a state-owned township project near Dhaka, the capital. Senior Special Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Zakir Hossain passed the order on Sunday, after considering charges in three separate cases filed
APPORTIONING BLAME: The US president said that there were ‘millions of people dead because of three people’ — Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy US President Donald Trump on Monday resumed his attempts to blame Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for Russia’s invasion, falsely accusing him of responsibility for “millions” of deaths. Trump — who had a blazing public row in the Oval Office with Zelenskiy six weeks ago — said the Ukranian shared the blame with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the February 2022 invasion, and then-US president Joe Biden. Trump told reporters that there were “millions of people dead because of three people.” “Let’s say Putin No. 1, but let’s say Biden, who had no idea what the hell he was doing, No. 2, and
RSS