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VOA’s chief national correspondent, Steve Herman, reports: U.S. President Joe Biden, in a New York Times opinion article published online Tuesday evening, said he had decided to “provide the Ukrainians with more advanced rocket systems and munitions that will enable them to more precisely strike key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine.” This comes a day after the president said he was rejecting a request from Kyiv for advanced missile systems that could potentially strike inside Russia.
A senior administration official told reporters that the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System is to be “used by the Ukrainians to repel Russian advances on Ukrainian territory “but not to hit targets in Russian territory.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked the European Union for banning nearly all oil from Russia.
, Zelenskyy said, “European countries have agreed to significantly limit oil imports from Russia. And I am grateful to everyone who worked to reach this agreement. The practical result is minus tens of billions of euros, which Russia will now be unable to use to finance terror.
“But it is also important to understand that European countries' abandonment of Russian oil and other fossil fuels will accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources. Strategically, this leaves the Russian state on the sidelines of the modern economy. With such an aggressive policy and a course of isolation from the civilized world, Russia simply will not be able to adapt. So, it will lose. Lose economically. that the EU's decision to cut the bulk of Russian oil imports means that Russia won't be able to spend tens of billions of euros "to finance terror,” he added. "As soon as the sixth package starts working, we will immediately start working on the seventh one."
Ukrainian soccer star Oleksandr Zinchenko teared up he tried to explain what it means to represent his country's national team, with a spot at the World Cup within reach, The Associated Press reported. Ukraine is two games away from qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar, starting with a match against Scotland in Glasgow on Wednesday, AP reported. The game, which had been scheduled for March, was postponed after Russia invaded Ukraine. The winner of the Ukraine-Scotland match will play Wales on Sunday.
“We want to give incredible emotions to the Ukrainian people because Ukrainians deserve it so much at this very moment,” Zinchenko, the Manchester City defender, said at a news conference. “Our mood, I would describe as a fighting mood, because everyone understands what is going on in Ukraine these days.”
Zinchenko put soccer in perspective, saying the one thing Ukrainians want is “to stop this war” but that those who could follow the game at home would do so, AP reported.
“I’m pretty sure that all Ukraine who has this opportunity is going to watch us, and we are going to feel this support 100 percent,” he said.
U.S. officials say the Biden administration is expected to announce it will send Ukraine a small number of high-tech, medium-range rocket systems, The Associated Press reported. Ukrainian leaders have said the weapons are critical in their struggle to stall Russian progress in the Donbas region. The U.S. plan tries to strike a balance between the desire to help Ukraine battle ferocious Russian artillery barrages while not providing arms that could allow Ukraine to hit targets deep inside Russia and escalate the war, AP reported. President Joe Biden has said the U.S. would not send Ukraine “rocket systems that can strike into Russia.”
A senior U.N. official had "constructive discussions" in Moscow with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports to global markets, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday, according to VOA’s U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer. The U.N. official, Rebecca Grynspan, is now in Washington for talks on the same issue with U.S. officials.
The Ukrainian military on Tuesday said Russia is preparing to resume its offensive at several areas in Eastern Ukraine. The Associated Press reports that General Staff spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun said in a daily operational update the Russian army is readying operations in Izium and Sloviansk, and conducting assault operations around Sievierodonetsk and Bakhmut, aiming to encircle the Ukrainian army.
Shtupun also claimed that Belarus hardware, including tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, was moved out from country's storage bases and could be used by Russian forces.