President Volodymyr Zelensky presided over a flag-raising ceremony and headed off to the war-torn Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on Wednesday to celebrate the “Day of Unity,” a holiday he created this week in response to anonymous reports that the Russian military had chosen the date to invade.
The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was forced to clarify on Monday night that his announcement declaring Wednesday a public holiday because of an alleged Russian invasion was intended as “irony” and mockery of anonymous media reports, not a confirmation that Russia will invade on Wednesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Monday that he had officially decreed Wednesday – which various anonymous reports had pegged as the first date of an alleged Russian invasion – the Ukrainian “Day of Unity,” a holiday to celebrate the country’s sovereignty.
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden described a predicted invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces as “imminent enough” on Sunday after appearing to promise not to use the word “imminent,” as it clearly outraged officials in Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invited his American counterpart Joe Biden to Kyiv to see for himself the absence of any imminent threat of war in a conversation on Sunday after telling reporters that officials in his country had no evidence to support the “panic” in the White House about an allegedly imminent Russian invasion.
President Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan predicted on Sunday that Russia could once again invade Ukraine “any day now,” shortly before Kyiv once again clarified that the odds of such an occurrence were “low.”
The White House and Pentagon made spirited attempts on Wednesday to blame ongoing tensions between America and Ukraine – triggered by repeated, panicked assertions in Washington that Russia would soon invade the country again – on the definition of one word: “imminent.”
After weeks of hysterical pronouncements about an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, culminating in an embarrassing meltdown by President Joe Biden in a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week, the Biden administration appears to be backing away from Ukraine and looking for ways to change the subject – such as declaring war on cancer instead of Russia.
Johnson said the UK should lead Western sanctions against Russia, even if his approach is at odds with Zelensky’s advice on handling Russia.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday that he was seeking to expand an already 15-year contract with Gazprom, Russia’s natural gas energy company, following a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will travel to Kyiv on February 3 where he will hold bilateral talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, amid recent political tension between Ukraine and Russia, Reuters reported on Monday.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held a session on the Russia-Ukraine situation on Thursday, as requested by the United States. The belligerent Russian delegation turned the meeting into a shouting match, at one point accusing the U.S. of putting “nationalists, radicals, Russophobes, and pure Nazis” in charge of Ukraine after the Russia-friendly government was overthrown in a 2014 popular revolt. The current president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, is Ukraine’s first Jewish chief executive.
Boris Johnson flew to Ukraine Tuesday afternoon, pledging support to Kyiv including an £88 million giveaway to the Ukrainian government.
The government of far-left Prime Minister Justin Trudeau withdrew nonessential personnel from Canada’s embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, this weekend and sent the nation’s defense minister to the capital to discuss an alleged potential Russian invasion of the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned international corporate media and world leaders like President Joe Biden for publicly predicting imminent war with Russia on Friday, stating that the panic caused by these statements cost Ukraine 12.5 billion hryvnia (about $437 million) in foreign investment.
The White House on Thursday contradicted CNN’s reporting about President Biden’s phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov extended an invitation to the country to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, but on the condition that he not discuss the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine that Russia denies, despite widespread evidence, it has a hand in.
The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky released striking photos of him after a controversial Thursday evening phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden, who rumors claimed told Zelensky to “brace for impact” from a Russian invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told American counterpart Joe Biden to place emphasis on the “economic and financial stability” of the country during a phone call Thursday following multiple public statements urging the Ukrainian public not to fall prey to panic about a potential Russian invasion fueled by Biden.
President Joe Biden spoke with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Thursday to discuss their ongoing tensions with Russia.
Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov said on Tuesday that even though China is not directly involved in negotiations with the U.S. and NATO over the fate of Ukraine, “our Chinese friends are paying close attention to the talks.”
Many Ukrainians appear more concerned about the potential economic fallout of panic over a Russian invasion – including a decline in the value of the national currency and potentially soaring natural gas prices – than any military activity on its own, locals told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly asked President Joe Biden to impose sanctions on Russia before an invasion begins, and has been denied every time.
Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov told reporters on Tuesday that Kyiv considers – and intelligence reports from the West agree – that “internal destabilization” caused by panic over a potential further Russian invasion is “the number one issue,” not any potential invasion on its own.
The head of the National Security Council of Ukraine dismissed any further Russian invasion of the country as “impossible” on Tuesday, directly contradicting panicked demands by the administration of President Joe Biden for Americans to flee the country.
Vice President Kamala Harris warned Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine on Tuesday, in an interview in Wisconsin.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday told Americans to leave Ukraine amid Russian aggression.
The Biden administration on Sunday once again rejected pleas from the Ukrainian government to impose sanctions on Russia before an invasion begins.
President Joe Biden has undermined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with his pullout of the families of U.S. embassy staff from Kyiv, signaling fear of a Russian invasion and contradicting Zelensky’s attempts to boost morale.
The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine on Monday dismissed the U.S. State Department’s withdrawal of the families of U.S. embassy staff in Kyiv as “premature” given the lack of “drastic change” in tensions between the country and Russia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a press conference on Thursday that he believed a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be disastrous, and presented himself as a moderator who might be able to avert such a conflict by bringing the presidents of Russia and Ukraine together for negotiations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday asked for the Biden administration to impose sanctions on Russia immediately, rather than waiting for a Russian attack on his country. Zelensky made a similar request of President Joe Biden personally during a phone conference in December, without success.
During a portion of an interview with CNN on Thursday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) responded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s tweet on Thursday that pushed back against President Joe Biden’s comments at a press conference on Wednesday about a small incursion
President Joe Biden’s “weakness” in signaling he would not respond to any “minor” Russian incursion into Ukraine is destabilizing to the world as well as well as American national security, said Reschenthaler.
Joe Biden’s comment seemed to suggest that unassembled Russian units could cross into Ukraine and not trigger a response, a day after the White House spent several hours trying to clarify the president’s comments.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday rejected comments made the day before by President Joe Biden that appeared dismissive of a potential Russian invasion of his country, affirming in a statement to social media, “There are no minor incursions.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered an emergency evening speech to his citizens on Wednesday night in response to a series of bizarre comments by his American counterpart Joe Biden that appeared to indicate the latter’s certainty that Russia would invade Ukraine and assert America would not act in the event of a “minor incursion.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with officials in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, ignoring the mounting dangers facing American athletes at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which President Joe Biden refused to boycott.
Upon assuming the presidency, Joe Biden promised the world, “America is back,” building on his campaign claims that President Donald Trump had severely damaged relations with the country’s allies.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that it would withdraw 10,000 troops from the border of Ukraine, where roughly 100,000 troops are massed, prompting worldwide fears of a Russian invasion.
