On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said that he asked Congress to approve his request for additional financial assistance to Ukraine as soon as possible.
“I just signed a request to Congress for important security, economic, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. (…) It is critical this funding gets approved and approved as quickly as possible,” Biden said, speaking at the White House.
He said he acknowledges that such assistance is “not cheap.”
Biden said the U.S. administration needs additional funds to transfer artillery, air defense systems, and armored vehicles to Ukraine.
“This assistance will give Ukraine additional artillery, armored vehicles, anti-tank and anti-air capabilities,” he said.
He said that a request to the U.S. Congress for additional funds for Ukraine should meet both the current defense needs of the Ukrainian military and longer-term security needs.
Biden said the United States and allies have already delivered over 50 million pieces of military equipment to Ukraine, including thousands of anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, helicopters, drones, grenade launchers and machine guns.
Additional funding to help Ukraine is needed, as the previously allocated funds are almost completely used.
Biden called on Congress to allocate $33 billion to help Ukraine in the defense and humanitarian spheres, as well as to strengthen the defense of European countries, the White House said. This funding is intended for the period until September 2022, the CNBC channel said.
The White House said in the statement that, among other things, some $20.4 billion is expected to be allocated both for military assistance to Ukraine and for “U.S. efforts to strengthen European security in cooperation with our NATO allies and other partners in the region.” This is about the supply of weapons to Ukraine and a number of European countries, artillery, armored vehicles, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. It is also planned to direct this assistance to strengthening the means of protection against cyberattacks, demining territories. At the same time, they plan to send $4 billion to the program of foreign military financing of the U.S. Department of State.
Of the funds requested by Biden, some $ 8.5 billion will be directed to support the Ukrainian economy. These funds are intended to finance the Ukrainian government, help Ukraine in the food, energy and medical fields.
The CNBC television channel, in turn, said, thus, in nine months, the total U.S. spending on Ukraine would exceed $36 billion.
In addition, according to the White House, some $3 billion will be allocated for humanitarian assistance around the world in the form of supplies of wheat and other goods. In addition, they plan to allocate $500 million as assistance to domestic production. This amount is expected to support U.S. production of food crops that are in short supply around the world due to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
In addition, Biden decided to ask Congress for approval of a package of laws that will help the administration use the confiscated assets of individuals associated with Russia to provide assistance to Ukraine. The White House said in the statement that the president “will send a proposal for a comprehensive legislative package that will enhance the United States Government’s authority to hold the Russian government and Russian oligarchs accountable for President Putin’s war against Ukraine.” Biden’s proposals, in particular, provide for the use of confiscated assets of persons subject to sanctions.
In parallel, similar measures are being considered in the U.S. Congress. Thus, on Thursday night, the House of Representatives approved a bill that gives the president the opportunity to use some of the assets frozen under sanctions against Russia to provide humanitarian and military assistance to Kyiv. ” The Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act takes an important step in rebuilding the country Russia has destroyed,” Congressman Tom Malinowski, co-author of the document, said on social media.
The New York Times said that 417 congressmen supported the bill, with eight opposed.
The cancellation by the UK of all duties and quotas on products from Ukraine to support it in the face of a military invasion by the Russian Federation may allow Ukrainian farmers to increase their presence in the UK markets of poultry meat, walnuts, honey, cranberries, blueberries and peas.
The list of high-margin agricultural products that Ukraine could supply to the UK at a time when the export of its traditional agricultural raw materials is blocked by the aggressor country of the Russian Federation was published on the website of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB) on Wednesday evening.
According to the results of 2021, agricultural products worth $553 million were exported from Ukraine to the UK, including sunflower oil (31% of export earnings), rapeseed (28%) and corn (24%). However, the supply of traditional agricultural crops in 2022 is difficult due to the naval blockade of Ukraine by Russian warships, as a result of which the country can potentially increase the export of a number of other agricultural products by road.
Ukrainian farmers, in particular, can focus their export efforts on the supply of poultry meat to the UK. The volume of its export in 2021 was 2,600 tonnes. The share of Ukraine of UK imports is 1%. Main competitors: the Netherlands, Poland, and Belgium.
The export of walnuts without shells is also promising. The volume of its export in 2021 was 0700 tonnes. The share of Ukraine of UK imports is 6%. Main competitors: the United States, Germany, and China.
According to the UCAB, Ukrainian farmers can increase honey exports to the UK (800 tonnes were delivered in 2021). The share of Ukraine of UK imports is 1%. Main competitors: China, Poland, and Mexico.
The export of cranberries and blueberries is also promising (supplies in 2021 – 200 tonnes). The share of Ukraine of UK imports is 0.3%. Main competitors: Spain, Peru, and Chile.
Ukraine exported 4,900 tonnes of peas to the UK in 2021, which amounted to 12% of the UK market in 2021. At the same time, Russia is Ukraine’s main competitor in this market, which, taking into account the economic sanctions imposed against it, adds an advantage to Ukrainian suppliers.
“Now the railways and seaports of neighboring countries are heavily loaded due to the export of grain crops, the volumes of which we have the largest. Therefore, to increase export earnings, we should focus on the export of goods that have a higher price with less weight and thus export by road,” UCAB cites a promising export model from its analyst Svitlana Lytvyn.
BERRIES, HONEY, PEAS, POULTRY, UK, UKRAINIAN FARMERS, WALNUTS
Bulgaria will be pleased to participate in the restoration of Ukraine, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov has said.
“As for your proposal to Bulgaria to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine, we will be more than happy to do so. We have many cities with many Bulgarian-speaking Ukrainians, and Bulgaria will be pleased to take a constructive part,” Petkov said at a press conference with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday.
The head of government said Bulgaria can also help Ukraine with the help of the trans-Balkan gas pipeline.
“When we talk about energy security, Bulgaria can help Ukraine through the use of the trans-Balkan gas pipeline, through which we can supply gas from LNG terminals in Greece and Turkey to Ukraine, which will give both our countries a lower price and the possibility of deliveries,” he said.
In addition, Petkov said Bulgaria supports Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
“It is very important for Bulgaria that Ukraine sees a clear path to the EU. It is time for us to say that Ukraine belongs, is part of the European family, and we must give a clear sign and a clear path as soon as possible. You have a strong voice for Bulgaria when we meet with many European colleagues,” he said.
On Thursday evening, the US House of Representatives adopted a law on lend-lease and the protection of democracy in Ukraine, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said.
“Lend-lease for Ukraine has finally been opened. The law has been voted on. Thanks to our allies,” Yermak wrote on his Telegram channel on Thursday evening.
The text of the document refers to granting the US President expanded powers to transfer or lease defense assets to Ukraine to “protect the civilian population from Russian military invasion” and for other purposes.
“After the adoption of the act, the chairman of the White House is obliged within 60 days to establish accelerated procedures for the delivery of products. The Lend-Lease Act allows us to significantly speed up the supply of weapons, transport, food and aid from the United States. And all this will allow us to drive the Russian army out of our territories” , – wrote the head of the OP.
He noted that Lend-Lease “means the US confidence in Ukraine’s victory over Russia.”
“This will be an important victory for our indestructible people, who were able to unite the civilized world around them in the fight against the Russian evil,” Yermak summed up.
CONGRESS, LAW, LEND-LEASE, US
Civilian casualties from February 24, when Russia started the war against Ukraine, to 24:00 on April 27 amounted to 6,009 civilians (in the report the day before – 5,939), including 2,829 dead (2,787), reports the Office of the High Commissioner United Nations Human Rights Organization (OHCHR) on Thursday.
“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are much higher as information is delayed from some areas of heavy fighting and many reports are still awaiting confirmation,” the UN data document notes.
According to him, this applies, for example, to Mariupol (Donetsk region), Izyum (Kharkiv region) and Popasna (Luhansk region), where there are reports of numerous civilian casualties. They are subject to further verification and are not included in the above statistics.
“The majority of civilian deaths or injuries were caused by the use of explosive devices with a wide area of effect, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, as well as rocket and air strikes,” the report says.
According to confirmed UN data, 932 men, 626 women, 75 boys and 62 girls died, while the sex of 68 children and 1066 adults has not yet been determined.
Among the 3,180 wounded were 73 boys and 66 girls, as well as 164 children whose gender has not yet been determined.
Compared to Friday’s report, according to the UN, three children were killed and another was injured.
OHCHR indicates that in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as of midnight on April 28, there were 1,266 (1,229) dead and 1,172 (1,159) injured in government-controlled territory, and 88 (85) dead and 357 (353) injured in territory controlled by self-proclaimed “republics”.
In other regions of Ukraine under government control (in Kyiv, as well as in Zhytomyr, Zaporozhye, Kyiv, Sumy, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnepropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Chernihiv regions), the UN recorded 1475 (1473) dead and 1651 (1640) wounded .
The daily summary traditionally states that the increase in the figures from the previous summary should not be attributed only to the cases on April 26, since during this period the Office verified a number of cases from previous days.
Since the end of February, Adonis Medical Group has not stopped working, and is currently resuming the work of clinics, Adonis general director Vitaliy Hyrin told Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that during this time the clinic branches in Podil and Sofiyivska Borschahivka, as well as emergency ambulances, worked around the clock.
In addition, from April 8, the maternity hospital of the network resumed work on the left bank.
“On May 9, we plan to open a maternity hospital on the right bank at the Shalimov branch. Currently, all branches are operating, except for the maternity hospital in Buzova, which was significantly damaged by shelling, as well as the branch in Bucha,” he said.
Hyrin noted a significant increase in the number of requests for medical help in recent years.
“In early March, there was a strong decline, but from mid-March and in April, the number of visits to Adonis clinics increased by 2.5 times and continues to grow,” he said.
According to Hyrin, the main specialties for patients are gynecology, pregnancy management, childbirth, prenatal and general ultrasound, sampling, pediatrics and therapy.
He also said that a significant number of Adonis patients are not located in Kyiv and are being consulted online.
Adonis is a network of private medical centers for adults and children founded over 20 years ago. It includes 12 branches in Kyiv and the region, including two own maternity hospitals and a stem cell laboratory.
In the branches of the clinic, doctors treat patients in 66 medical specialties.
