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Zelenskyy: Jens Stoltenberg is supportive of Ukraine joining NATO
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CNBC’s Silvia Amaro that NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, “supported” the idea of Ukraine joining the 74-year-old defense alliance.
Zelenskyy made the comments after landing at the European Political Community Summit in Bulboaca, Moldova.
Ukraine’s NATO membership has long been a point of intense contention between Russia and the West constitutes and what many describe as a “red line” for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kyiv’s push for NATO membership, and U.S. refusal to rule it out, sparked hostility between Russia and Washington ahead of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
— Hannah Ward-Glenton
Three killed in Russian strike on Kyiv, including a child
Three people were killed in a Russian overnight missile strike on Kyiv: an 11-year-old girl, her mother and another woman, city authorities reported. An additional 12 were injured, with a child among them. Authorities said that residential buildings and a children’s hospital were damaged.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down all 10 missiles Russia fired at the city, but that people were killed and injured by the falling debris. Air raid sirens sounded overnight and then again around 7:30 a.m. local time.
The Kyiv Post reports that Russia launched at least 500 missiles and drones at Kyiv in the month of May alone.
— Natasha Turak
NATO’s Stoltenberg: Moscow does not have a ‘veto against NATO enlargement’
Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg during a meeting with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi on April 20, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Andriy Zhyhaylo | Getty Images
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that all NATO allies agree that Russia cannot prevent Ukraine’s eventual membership of the alliance.
Speaking to reporters ahead of an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo, Stoltenberg said all allies agreed that “NATO’s door is open for new members.”
“All allies also agree that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance, and all allies agree that it is for the NATO allies and Ukraine to decide when Ukraine becomes a member,” he said.
“It is not for Moscow to have a veto against NATO enlargement, but most importantly, all allies agree that the most urgent and important task now is to ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent nation. President Putin and Russia must not win this war.”
Stoltenberg also called for action beyond the end of the Russia-Ukraine war to guarantee Ukraine’s security, in order to ensure that “history doesn’t repeat itself” and that the “pattern of Russian aggression against Ukraine” is brought to an end.
— Elliot Smith
Putin shows ‘zero inclination’ to end war in Ukraine, White House says
US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 31, 2023.
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images
The White House said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown “zero inclination” to end the war in Ukraine as the conflict approaches its 500th day.
“The Russians have shown no inclination of being interested at all in a negotiated settlement,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said during a White House briefing.
“I think this week as you have all seen, Russia has continued to wage just a brutal, completely unprovoked war against Ukraine,” Kirby said, referencing a slew of Russian air strikes across Ukraine.
He added that so far this month, Russia has launched 17 air assaults on Kyiv.
— Amanda Macias
Biden administration approves new security assistance package worth $300 million for Ukraine
Workers and Ukrainian servicemen unload a shipment of ammunition delivered as part of the United States of America’s security assistance to Ukraine, at the Boryspil International Airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine November 14, 2021.
U.S. Embassy in Ukraine | Reuters
The Pentagon announced a new security assistance package for Ukraine worth $300 million. The latest package is the 39th tranche of weapons and contains artillery and anti-armor defenses as well as ammunition.
Here’s what is included in the new security package:
- Munitions for Patriot air defense systems
- AIM-7 missiles
- Avenger air defense systems
- Stinger anti-aircraft systems
- Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS
- 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds
- 105mm tank ammunition
- Precision aerial munitions
- Zuni aircraft rockets
- Munitions for Unmanned Aerial Systems, or UAS
- AT-4 anti-armor systems
- More than 30 million rounds of small arms ammunition
The security assistance package also includes demolition munitions, mine-clearing equipment, night vision devices, as well as spare parts for equipment and generators.
The U.S. has provided approximately $38 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
— Amanda Macias
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