Ukraine

Haaretz reports: In a call with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s assertion that Adolf Hitler had Jewish origins. Bennett accepted Putin’s apology for Lavrov’s remarks and thanked him for clarifying the Russian president’s attitude toward the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust, Bennett’s office said in a statement. …

Religion News Service reports: Pope Francis told an Italian newspaper on Tuesday (May 3) that NATO may be partly to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and he said he hopes to visit Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of brokering a peace. Talking to reporters from Il Corriere della Sera, Francis said that “NATO barking …

Reuters reports: Pope Francis said in an interview published on Tuesday that he asked for a meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to stop the war in Ukraine but had not received a reply. The pope also told Italy’s Corriere Della Sera newspaper that Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has given the war …

Reuters reports: Israel denounced Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday for suggesting that the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had Jewish origins, saying his comments were anti-Semitic and dangerous. Israeli Foreign Ministry Yair Lapid said the Russian ambassador would be summoned for “a tough talk” over the assertion, which Lavrov made on Sunday in an interview with Italian television. “It …

The New York Times reports: After a secret visit to Kyiv and a three-hour meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday pledged broad economic, military and humanitarian support for Ukraine’s government, saying the United States would stand with its ally until Russia was defeated. Drawing parallels with the American Revolution, the comments by Ms. Pelosi — who …

CNN reports: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made an unannounced trip to the Ukrainian capital on Saturday, becoming the most senior United States official to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky since the war broke out more than two months ago. Pelosi’s office confirmed the trip in a statement on Sunday, saying that the speaker had led an official congressional delegation to …

The Washington Post reports: Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have seized more than 2,000 pieces of artwork from the besieged port city of Mariupol. They have been taken to Russian-occupied Donetsk, local channel TV7 reported. The Mariupol City Council wrote in a Telegram message Thursday that Russian forces have raided the three local museums, including the Kuindzhi Art Museum, since …

The Hill reports: Georgia President Salome Zourabichvili is on a mission in Washington to build support for her country as a key bulwark in case Russia seeks to expand its aggression beyond Ukraine. In an interview with The Hill, Zourabichvili said that she believes Moscow doesn’t have the capacity to move its military to launch another operation, but that “it …

The Associated Press reports: Officials in Poland and Bulgaria say Russia is suspending their countries’ natural gas deliveries starting on Wednesday. The governments of the two European countries said Tuesday that Russian energy giant Gazprom informed them it was halting gas supplies. The suspensions would be the first since Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that “unfriendly” foreign buyers …

Reuters reports: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the West on Monday not to underestimate the elevated risks of nuclear conflict over Ukraine and said he viewed NATO as being “in essence” engaged in a proxy war with Russia by supplying Kyiv with weaponry. Lavrov, in a wide-ranging interview broadcast on state television, also said that the core of any …

The Los Angeles Times report: When the Finnish Reservists’ Assn. recently announced wartime defense courses for civilian women in the southern town of Haemeenlinna, the 400 slots filled almost immediately, with a waiting list of 500 more. Topics will include shooting, cybersecurity and how to manage the first several days of an invasion from abroad. In many ways, Finland has …

The New York Post reports: New footage of Vladimir Putin appearing unsteady, fidgeting and biting his lips during an Orthodox Easter service in Moscow on Sunday has added to suspicions that the Russian leader is seriously ill. The warmongering president shifts uncomfortably, sticks out his tongue and bites his lips as Patriarch Kirill announces that “Christ has risen” – joining …

Axios reports: President Biden announced on Monday that he intends to nominate Bridget Brink as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The U.S. has not had an ambassador to Ukraine since former President Trump removed Marie Yovanovitch from the position in 2019. The White House’s announcement follows Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr …

Reuters reports: The United States promised on Monday to reopen its embassy in Kyiv soon, as Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Ukraine’s capital and hailed its success so far against Russia’s invasion. Both men said the fact they were able to come to Kyiv was proof of Ukraine’s tenacity in forcing Moscow to abandon …

Politico reports: U.S. and Ukrainian officials on Sunday discussed the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin expanding his invasion from the Donbas region of southeastern Ukraine into the neighboring nation of Moldova — another former Soviet state and non-NATO member in Eastern Europe. Transdniestria, or Transnistria, is a pro-Russia breakaway region of Moldova, which borders Ukraine to the southwest. Moldova, …

The Associated Press reports: Russian forces have launched fresh airstrikes on a Mariupol steel plant where an estimated 1,000 civilians are sheltering along with about 2,000 Ukrainian fighters. The Azovstal steel mill where the defenders are holed up is the last corner of resistance in the city, which the Russians have otherwise occupied. Mariupol has been the focus of fierce …

Bloomberg News reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would visit Kyiv on Sunday, in what would be a risky show of support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion. “Tomorrow people from the U.S. are coming, I will meet the defense minister and the secretary of state, Mr. Blinken,” …

Axios reports: Russian Olympic gold medalist swimmer Evgeny Rylov has been banned from competition for nine months after appearing at a rally in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. FINA, swimming’s international governing body, said in a statement Thursday that Rylov was suspended “from all competitions and activities organized or sanctioned by FINA” for nine …

Roll Call reports: The Biden administration announced a new program Thursday that would offer relief to Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion by allowing Americans to sponsor them for temporary admission to the U.S. Under the Homeland Security Department program, dubbed “Uniting for Ukraine,” American individuals and groups, including nonprofit organizations and churches, will apply to sponsor displaced Ukrainian citizens. The application …

Reuters reports: President Joe Biden pledged $800 million in more weaponry for Ukraine on Thursday and said he would ask Congress for more money to help bolster support for the Ukrainian military as it faces a fresh onslaught by Russia on its eastern flank. The Pentagon said that the new package would include 75 155mm long-range howitzers, 72 tactical vehicles …