Donald Trump has said the survival of Ukraine is important to the US, in what Reuters describes as a shift in tone days before Republicans are due to vote on a $61bn aid package in the US House of Representatives. “As everyone agrees, Ukrainian Survival and Strength should be much more important to Europe than to us, but it is also important to us! GET MOVING EUROPE!” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social Thursday.
The former president did not endorse the aid package directly, but instead dedicated most of his post to America’s European allies not spending enough to support Ukraine. The post is arguably one of Trump’s first acknowledgments that Ukraine’s survival is an important US security interest, according to Reuters. Some hard-right Republicans nevertheless interpreted the post as a signal that he opposes the current aid package, though Trump did not say that explicitly.
Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal welcomed progress on the $61bn aid package on Thursday, saying that US officials assured him Kyiv could expect to get new weapons in weeks once the aid is approved, as per Reuters. Shmyhal has warned of the possibility of a third world war if Ukraine loses to Russia.
Two German-Russian nationals have been arrested in southern Germany on suspicion of plotting sabotage attacks, including on US military facilities, in what officials called a serious effort to undermine military support for Ukraine. The men, named as Dieter S and Alexander J, are suspected of operating as Russian spies on behalf of the Kremlin, according to German media sources.
Separately, a Polish man has been arrested on allegations that he aided a plot by Russian intelligence services to assassinate the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors. The man, identified only as Pawel K, has been accused of being prepared to pass airport security information to Russian agents and was arrested in Poland on Wednesday, the office of Poland’s national prosecutor revealed in a statement.
The Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has thanked Germany for agreeing to supply Ukraine with another Patriot air defence system, saying he would appeal to other countries at the G7 meeting this week for more weapons. So far, the G7 ministers meeting on the island of Capri have acknowledged the need to get more air defence systems to Ukraine, as per Reuters. Ministers reportedly applauded Kuleba as he joined them on the second day of their three-day gathering.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the west should do more to help defend Ukraine’s skies from Russia after an attack on the northern city of Chernihiv. “This would not have happened if Ukraine had received sufficient air defence equipment and if the world’s determination to resist Russian terror had been sufficient,” he said in a social media post on X.
The Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba echoed Zelenskiy’s comments in a separate post on social media and suggested that Ukraine should enjoy the same cover from aerial attacks as Israel. “In the Middle East, we saw what reliable protection of human lives from missiles looks like,” he added, referring to Iran’s drone and missile barrage on Israel that was intercepted by western and Israeli forces.
At least 17 people were killed and 61 were injured on Wednesday after three Russian missiles slammed into a downtown area of Chernihiv, hitting an eight-floor apartment building. Two children were among the 61 people injured, the emergency services said in its latest toll of casualties.
The US ambassador to Russia visited jailed American reporter Evan Gershkovich on Thursday, saying he is in “good spirits”, AFP reported. Gershkovich, 32, has been in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo prison for more than a year after he was arrested during a reporting trip in the Urals and accused of spying – charges he, his employer and the US government deny.
Russia banned entry to hundreds of Australian citizens, the Russian foreign ministry said on Wednesday. It said Moscow will indefinitely close entry to 235 municipal councillors for what it called an “anti-Russian agenda”.