AMN/ WEB DESK
The United States and its Western allies have pledged new sanctions on Russia and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. In the meetings of NATO, the Group of Seven industrialized nations and the 27-member European Council at Brussels yesterday, the leaders discussed the steps to be taken in view of the Russian -Ukraine crisis.
US President Joe Biden in a news conference after the meetings, warned that a chemical attack by Russia would trigger a response in kind.
Biden also announced that U.S. would welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and provide an additional 1 billion dollar aid in food, medicine, water and other supplies. US has said it will expand its sanctions on Russia, targeting members of the country’s parliament along with defense contractors and will also work with other Western nations to ensure gold reserves held by Russia’s central bank are subject to existing sanctions.
French President Emmanuel Macron said NATO has made a choice to support Ukraine without going to war with Russia. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned China against coming to Moscow’s rescue. He called on Beijing to join the rest of the world and clearly condemn the war against Ukraine and not support Russia.Stoltenberg said that NATO leaders agreed to send equipment to Ukraine to help protect it against a chemical weapons attack.
President Biden is visiting Rzeszów, Poland today, where energy and refugee issues are expected to be at the center of talks with President Andrzej Duda. He will also meet with U.S. troops from the 82nd Airborne Division who have been deployed in recent weeks to bolster NATO’s eastern flank.