{"id":66389,"date":"2024-08-24T14:09:29","date_gmt":"2024-08-24T05:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/article\/2024\/aug\/24\/ukraine-war-briefing-biden-and-zelenskiy-talk-as-ukraine-prepares-to-mark-independence-day"},"modified":"2024-08-24T14:09:29","modified_gmt":"2024-08-24T05:09:29","slug":"ukraine-war-briefing-biden-and-zelenskiy-talk-as-ukraine-prepares-to-mark-independence-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/?p=66389","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war briefing: Biden and Zelenskiy talk as Ukraine prepares to mark independence day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>US president pledges $125m in new military aid for Kyiv, while Narendra Modi tells Zelenskiy he is ready to help secure peace deal. What we know on day 913<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/ukraine\">See all our Ukraine war coverage<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Joe Biden spoke to Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday and announced a new military aid package ahead of Ukraine\u2019s independence day on Saturday<\/strong>, their offices said. In the US president\u2019s call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Biden reaffirmed Washington\u2019s support, which the White House called \u201cunwavering\u201d, in Ukraine\u2019s war with Russia. The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said on social media the aid package was worth $125m. It included air-defence missiles, counter-drone equipment, anti-armour missiles and ammunition, the White House said. Austin also spoke on Friday with his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerovm.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Zelenskiy said after the call: \u201cUkraine critically needs the supply of weapons from the announced packages, particularly additional air defence systems<\/strong> for the reliable protection of cities, communities and critical infrastructure,\u201d a statement from the Ukrainian president\u2019s office said. The latest US aid announcement comes as Ukrainian troops press an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/article\/2024\/aug\/13\/ukraines-incursion-into-russia-explained-in-maps-footage-and-photos\">attack into Russia\u2019s western Kursk region<\/a>, while Russian troops are making gains in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine around the city of Pokrovsk, a critical logistics hub.<\/p>\n<p><strong>India\u2019s Narendra Modi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/article\/2024\/aug\/23\/modi-to-visit-ukraine-amid-controversy-over-hug-for-putin\">arrived in Kyiv<\/a> on Friday on a closely watched visit<\/strong>, the first by an Indian prime minister since Ukraine gained independence in 1991. He told Zelenskiy <strong>he was \u201cpersonally\u201d ready to play a role \u201cas a friend\u201d to bring peace to Ukraine.<\/strong> \u201cThe road to resolution can only be found through dialogue and diplomacy,\u201d Modi said. \u201cAnd we should move in that direction without wasting any time. Both sides should sit together to find a way out of this crisis.\u201d Zelenskiy said \u201chistory was made\u201d and that \u201cIndia supports Ukraine\u2019s national sovereignty and territorial integrity\u201d. An adviser in the Ukrainian president\u2019s office, Mykhailo Podolyak, said Modi\u2019s visit to Kyiv was significant because Delhi \u201creally has a certain influence\u201d over Moscow.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The US unveiled sweeping sanctions against almost 400 individuals and companies tied to Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine<\/strong>, expanding existing measures to curb Moscow over the invasion. Among those designated in the moves \u2013 announced on Friday by the US Treasury, state and commerce departments \u2013 were 60 Russia-based defence and technology firms \u201ccritical for the sustainment and development of Russia\u2019s defence industry\u201d, the Treasury department said. It also said the sanctions targeted individuals and companies inside and outside of Russia \u201cwhose products and services enable Russia to sustain its war effort and evade sanctions\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong> Ukraine\u2019s military says it used high-precision US glide bombs to strike Russia\u2019s Kursk region and that is has recaptured some territory in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv<\/strong> that has been under a Russian offensive since spring. Ukraine\u2019s air force commander, Lt Gen Mykola Oleschuk, issued a video purporting to show a Russian platoon base being hit in Kursk. He said the attack with US-supplied GBU-39 bombs resulted in Russian casualties and the destruction of equipment. Meanwhile, Ukraine\u2019s 3rd separate assault brigade said its forces advanced nearly 2 sq km (about three-quarters of a square mile) in the Kharkiv region.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said he believed Vladimir Putin would not risk a catastrophe at Ukraine\u2019s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant<\/strong> amid mounting international concern over its safety. The Swedish former foreign minister told Agence France-Presse that Putin was \u201cvery rational\u201d and \u201cknows what he\u2019s doing\u201d. Blix, 96, who headed the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1981 to 1997, said he didn\u2019t think Russia would deliberately attack the Zaporizhzhia plant. \u201cI would be very surprised if the Russians had not instructed their military to stay away from severe damage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>The supply of electricity to the Zaporizhzhia plant has resumed<\/strong> via a high-voltage line, Ukrainian nuclear power firm Energoatom said on Friday. Russia\u2019s Rosatom nuclear company said earlier in the day that automatic systems of Europe\u2019s biggest station \u2013 in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine \u2013 switched off one of the lines.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Russians marked a year since the death of Russian paramilitary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin with flowers and tributes<\/strong>. At a curbside in Moscow just a few hundred metres from the Kremlin, streams of his supporters came on Friday to lay bouquets of flowers. The late mercenary boss died two months after leading an armed rebellion against Russia\u2019s military leadership but is still revered by many who see him as a patriot, Agence France-Presse reported.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/article\/2024\/aug\/24\/ukraine-war-briefing-biden-and-zelenskiy-talk-as-ukraine-prepares-to-mark-independence-day\">Continue reading&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US president pledges $125m in new military aid for Kyiv, while Narendra Modi tells Zelenskiy he is ready to help secure peace deal. What we know on day 913See all our Ukraine war coverageJoe Biden spoke to Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday and announced a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":203,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sns_share_botton_hide":"","vkExUnit_sns_title":"","_vk_print_noindex":"","sitemap_hide":"","_veu_custom_css":"","veu_display_promotion_alert":"","vkexunit_cta_each_option":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[221,62,939,433,419,930,45,2525,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe","category-india","category-joe-biden","category-narendra-modi","category-russia","category-ukraine","category-us-foreign-policy","category-volodymyr-zelenskiy","category-world-news"],"veu_head_title_object":{"title":"","add_site_title":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66389"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66400,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66389\/revisions\/66400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}