On the 88th day of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska gave an interview to a local channel with her husband, President Volodymyr Zelensky. It was their second public appearance together since the start of the war in February, and their first interview together.

In an undisclosed location for security reasons.

When asked if the conflict was driving them away, she said, “No one will take my husband away from me, not even war.”

He also said that Zelensky hasn’t changed in recent months. “I can’t say that Volodymyr has changed since the beginning of this war. He was a reliable husband and a reliable man before, and that continues,” he said.

Zelensky it also reported today that Russian forces destroyed 1,873 school facilities during the conflict.

He described the losses as “massive”. Deliberately attacking schools and other civilian infrastructure is considered a war crime.

Turkey sets conditions for Sweden and Finland to join NATO

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke yesterday for the first time since the stalemate over Sweden and Finland’s membership in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

In a statement after the meeting, Erdogan said he hopes Sweden will take concrete and serious steps that show that Turkey shares its concerns about the PKK terrorist organization. [Partido dos Trabalhadores do Curdistão] and its consequences in Syria and Iraq”.

Erdogan also urges the country to “lift restrictions” on arms exports to Turkey, which were issued against Turkey in October 2019 following the Turkish military’s campaigns against PKK and YPG allies in northern Syria and Iraq. Along with the US, the country faced the jihadist organization Islamic State.

Both Sweden and Finland decided to break away from decades of military discord by applying for NATO membership after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The entry, however, requires the unanimous consent of all members of the Atlantic alliance.

Turkey opposes the request, considering that these two countries are considered Turkish “sanctuaries” of the PKK, an organization considered terrorist by Ankara, as well as by the United States and the European Union.

US aid and new sanctions

US President Joe Biden signed a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine yesterday — the fund is intended to support the Eastern European country over the next five months and will be used for aid, among other things. food shortage.

Aid, approved by the support of Democrats and the vast majority of Republicans in the House and Senate, deepens US commitment to Ukraine at a time when the war is uncertain about its future, is about to enter its fourth month, and promises are extended. .

According to the news of Interfax, the Russian government announced that it has banned 963 Americans from entering the country, including President Joe Biden. The list, released by the Russian Foreign Ministry, also vetoes the access of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA director William Burns to Russian soil.

The bans have only a symbolic effect, but were enacted in response to the US government’s sanctions on Moscow over the February 24 war in Ukraine.

*With AFP