© AFP/Andrew Cabaliero-Reynolds/Getty ImagesUS President Joe Biden
Biden's proposal, however, risks getting tangled in a long-simmering partisan dispute over immigration and Covid-19 funding.
NATO allies have pledged and provided more than $8 billion in military assistance to Ukraine so far, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
A top Ukrainian negotiator said additional military success was key to negotiations with Russia.
- Key Developments
- Biden Ukraine Aid Risks Slowing as GOP Balks at Covid Tie-In
- Old-Fashioned Artillery Proves a Big Plus for Ukraine's Force
- Germany Closer to Backing EU Push to Sanction Russia's Sberbank
- German Parliament Backs Heavy Weapons Supplies for Ukraine
- Europe Seeks to Draw Tougher Line on Russian Gas Threat
Mykhailo Podolyak, one of Ukraine's chief negotiators and a top adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told Bloomberg that more Ukrainian military successes must occur before negotiations can bear fruit.
"Positions in negotiations, including the Russian position, and the way in which the war will end, and the way in which the war will end will be defined in the east of Ukraine, in different tactical battles. If Ukraine, with the support of its partners, will be able to prove its point, Russia will gradually begin to adequately see the situation from the military point of view and this is when we will be able to advance in negotiations significantly.- Oil Rises Near Two-Week High as EU Ban on Russia Looms
"Peace talks groups continue working together, but it's hard to predict the next date for an in-person meeting. Russia considers its military actions in eastern Ukraine as a second round of its so-called special operation, which is the war, in reality and it wants to get tactical military benefits."
Oil closed at the highest level in nearly two weeks as prospects for a European Union ban on crude imports from Russia seemed more likely, with Germany signaling it's prepared to phase in an end to purchases. West Texas Intermediate crude settled 3.3% higher in New York.
- U.S., Canada Say Weapons Arriving Quickly to Ukraine
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said howitzers and other weaponry promised to Ukraine are being delivered quickly.
Canada has also been training Ukrainian forces on the use of the howitzers, Anand said during a joint news conference at the Pentagon. Austin urged Congress to quickly approve Biden's proposed $33 billion supplemental for Ukraine.
- Mayor Says Kyiv Is Hit by Two Missile Strikes
Kyiv was hit by two missile strikes on Thursday evening, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. He didn't provide details except to say the missiles hit a central district of Ukraine's capital city. Ten people were said to have been injured. There also were reports of strikes elsewhere, including in Odessa.
- Ukrainian Negotiator Cites 'Red Lines' in War With Russia
Direct Russian-Ukrainian talks to end the war are "somewhat on pause" as the Kremlin presses ahead with its attack, one of Ukraine's main negotiators said in an interview.
Potential additional war crimes, the destruction of Mariupol and organizing fake referendums on Ukrainian territory are "red lines" that could bring a halt to negotiations, Mykhaylo Podolyak told Bloomberg Television.
"There isn't even a subject for discussion because everything is going to be decided in terms of direct combat in the east of Ukraine."- Kremlin's Gas Cuts Show It's Not Dependable, Biden Says
Biden said Russia's cutoff of natural gas to Poland and Bulgaria shows that Moscow isn't a dependable energy supplier. The U.S. is working with allies including Japan to divert shipments of U.S.-produced gas to Europe.
"These actions prove that energy is not just a commodity that Russia sells to help meet other countries' needs, but a weapon."- Ukraine Asks Bulgaria to Repair Heavy Weapons, Premier Says
Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said his coalition and parliament will discuss a Ukrainian request to help with repairs for heavy weaponry at its plants. The premier said Bulgaria can also help transit gas to Ukraine from liquid natural gas terminals in Greece and Turkey - and may use its port at Varna to help with grain transport.
Bulgaria, which has a past of deep ties with Moscow, has held back weapons deliveries to Ukraine because of divisions within the ruling coalition.
- One British National Killed, Another Missing In Ukraine
A British national has been killed in Ukraine and another is missing, the U.K. Foreign Office said in a statement. The government did not provide details of what the two people were doing in Ukraine, and said it was urgently seeking further information.
- Old-Fashioned Artillery Proves a Big Plus for Ukraine's Forces
Basic artillery has played a central role in Ukraine's resistance against Russia's invading forces. Its function explains why the U.S. and other nations that collectively make up Ukraine's arsenal are now putting so much emphasis on providing 155mm howitzers — in the case of the U.S., at least 90 of them, worth as much as $750,000 a piece, plus 184,000 rounds of ammunition.
Traditional firepower, supported by drones that allow for pinpoint targeting, is set to remain dominant in the next phase of the war, along a 300-plus mile (482 km) front in the eastern Donbas region. Even before the arrival of the more sophisticated, often longer range canons now being fed into the Ukrainian war effort, artillery was key.
Old-Fashioned Artillery Proves a Big Plus for Ukraine's Forces
- Russia May Need Half Its Planes for Spare Parts
Russia may be forced to ground between half and two-thirds of its commercial aircraft by 2025 in order to cannibalize them for spare parts, Kommersant newspaper reported, citing an unidentified official at the Transport Ministry.
In the ministry's base case, at least 70% of the country's foreign-made planes will still be flying by the end of 2025, Kommersant said. In a worst-case scenario, Russia could begin to face severe shortages starting in the second half of this year as sanctions prevent the airline industry from importing components, the report said.
- Kyiv Remains Unsafe as Russia Pushes Forward, Mayor Says
Authorities in the Ukrainian capital still can't guarantee safety to residents willing to return even after Russian forces pulled back from the city's surroundings, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told Bloomberg Television.
"We don't know how long the war will be and how much it will cost in the next weeks -- maybe months, maybe years."With more than 200 buildings in the city damaged by Russian shelling, it may take around $100 million to rebuild them, in Klitschko's estimated.
- Germany Prepares for Potential Russian Gas Halt
Germany has started preparations for a potential halt in Russian gas deliveries, with steps started even before the Ukraine invasion, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in Tokyo on Thursday.
Germany has said gas buyers should stick to paying in euros or dollars and leave it up to Gazprombank PJSC to do the conversion, but it's unclear whether that would be accepted by Moscow. Scholz said:
"Whatever the Russian government decides on this, we can only speculate. You have to prepare for it, and we already started this before the war broke out. We know what we have to do."- Top Polish Retailer Explores Sale of Russian Operation
Poland's biggest fashion retailer LPP SA began talks about selling its fast-growing Russian business, it said in a statement, citing ongoing uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine. The company has 553 Russian stores, which it suspended last month. LPP competitor Inditex SA, seeks to return to Russia when possible, while H&M says it only paused operations.
- German Inflation Hits Record on War Fallout
Surging energy costs and disruption to supply chains caused by the war helped push German inflation to the quickest pace since records began in the early 1990s.
Consumer prices soared 7.8% in April from a year earlier -- higher than the 7.6% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey for the European Union harmonized reading. The European Central Bank -- which aims for 2% inflation over the medium term -- is expected to raise interest rates in the coming months in what would mark the first hike in more than a decade.
German Inflation Quickens to Record on Fallout From War
- EU Firms Opening Ruble Accounts Breach Sanctions, Officials Say
Companies in the EU that open an account in rubles to pay for Russian gas would violate sanctions imposed by the bloc, according to EU officials. The new Russian demand is problematic because it involves the country's central bank, which is under sanctions, the officials added.
The warning was issued Thursday as governments and companies are seeking clarity on the impact of a demand by Putin that gas must now be bought in local currency.
- German Parliament Urges Heavy Weapons to Ukraine
Germany's parliament urged the government to quickly supply Ukraine with heavy weapons and other equipment to help its defense.
The three parties in Chancellor Scholz's coalition and the largest opposition group -- which combined hold over 80% of the seats in the lower house of parliament -- teamed up to support a motion in a show of broad-based solidarity.
- UN Preparing for Possible Mariupol Evacuations
The United Nations resident coordinator in Ukraine tweeted that she's going to Zaporizhzhia to prepare for possible evacuations of civilians from the besieged Black Sea port city of Mariupol.
UN officials are seeking to translate Russia's agreement "in principle" for a UN role, reached during talks between Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Russian leaders in Moscow on Tuesday, into an agreement in detail and action on the ground.
- Russia Condemns 'Terrorist' Acts in Transnistria
Russia warned that it considers as "acts of terrorism" recent violent incidents in the breakaway Transnistria region of Moldova, Tass reported.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow will respond harshly to any Ukrainian attacks on targets within Russia after a series of fires at Russian oil and weapons depots.
Moldovan authorities have blamed the violence in Transnistria on separatist factions and vowed to resist attempts to drag the country into conflict. Transnistria leaders say they've traced the attacks to Ukraine.
- Scholz Says Pressure on Russia Must Be Maintained
The German chancellor said the EU and its allies must keep up the pressure on Russia with further sanctions and weapons deliveries to Ukraine to force Putin to end the war.
Scholz told a business conference in Tokyo that any peace deal must be acceptable to Ukraine, and ruled out an agreement "dictated" by Moscow.
- Germany Closer to Backing EU Sanctions on Sberbank
Germany is ready to consider including Sberbank PJSC, Russia's largest bank, in the European Union's next sanctions package that's currently being finalized, said people familiar with the matter.
Germany had been one of the more reluctant member states in the push to exclude Sberbank from the SWIFT international payments messaging system, since Berlin was worried it could disrupt energy transactions.
In recent weeks, Germany has moved quickly to tap alternative suppliers for energy and is now preparing to back a phased-in ban on Russian oil.
- Crossings to Poland From Ukraine Reach 3 Million
The number of people crossing into Poland from Ukraine since Feb. 24 has hit 3 million, Polish border authorities said.
Another 25,000 people crossed the border on Wednesday, while 18,400 entered to Ukraine from Poland.
Where do these billions keep coming from?