U.S. Abrams tanks will arrive in Ukraine next week, President Joe Biden said Thursday, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy plans to address the Canadian Parliament in the next leg of his North American trip.
In January, the U.S. said it would send 31 M1A1 tanks to Ukraine, which amounts to one entire Ukrainian tank battalion.
Zelenskyy is expected to ask Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a staunch ally of Ukraine, for further aid, while Biden hopes to provide a further $24 billion in aid, despite opposition from some Senate members.
Military support for Ukraine is starting to wane elsewhere, with Poland dealing a serious blow on Thursday in saying it will no longer supply its neighbor with weapons, as a rift over agricultural exports deepens.
Russian forces continued to attack Ukraine’s eastern front, with a town west of Donetsk blasted overnight. At least 13 people were reported as injured in the attack.
Russian official says Ukraine hit naval HQ in missile attack
Ukrainian forces launched a missile attack on Russian naval headquarters, according to Google-translated Telegram comments from Mikhail Razvozhaev, the governor of Sevastopol — the largest city in Crimea.
Debris fell close to the Lunacharsky Theater, which sits next to the port, and information about injuries or fatalities is “being clarified,” he said.
Crimea has frequently been struck by Ukrainian forces since Moscow’s full-scale invasion, following Russia’s capture and annexation of the city in 2014.
CNBC was unable to independently verify the information.
Kremlin describes Poland as an ‘aggressive’ country
Kremlin official Dmitry Peskov described Poland as “a fairly aggressive country” in his daily briefing, as reported by state media site Tass on Telegram, according to a Google translation.
Peskov said Poland “does not disdain subversive activities” and that the country is “not the most comfortable” neighbor for Belarus.
In his comments, Peskov also said that he expects friction between Kyiv and Warsaw to increase.
The remarks came after Poland said it would no longer supply Kyiv with weapons, despite Warsaw having been one of its staunchest allies since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022
A recent dispute over Ukraine’s agricultural exports, which have had to be transferred via Eastern European countries while Russia has effectively blockaded grain ships leaving the country’s ports, has caused tensions between Kyiv and Warsaw.
Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Belarus and Russia to start joint military drills
Belarus and Russia will start performing joint military drills, according to the Belarusian Defense Ministry, Reuters reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, in July, where the pair discussed the conflict in Ukraine.
“There is no [Ukrainian] counteroffensive,” Russian news agencies quoted Lukashenko as saying, to which Putin replied, “It exists, but it has failed.”
Belarus and Russia are linked in a partnership called the “union state,” and Lukashenko allowed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine to be launched from Belarus in February 2022.
Source: Consumer News Business Channel
