US defense secretary in unannounced visit to Ukraine

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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is welcomed as he arrives in Kyiv on Nov. 20, 2023. (United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin via X)

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Above, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky attending a meeting in Kyiv. (Ukrainian Presidential press service via AFP)

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Updated 20 November 2023

AFP

November 20, 2023 07:38

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US defense secretary in unannounced visit to Ukraine

Pentagon leader’s second visit since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022

Updated 20 November 2023

AFP

November 20, 2023 07:38

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KYIV: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday to reassure Ukraine that Washington will continue supporting its fight against invading Russian forces.

The United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in security aid for Ukraine and repeatedly pledged to back Kyiv for “as long as it takes,” but opposition from hard-line Republican lawmakers has raised doubts about the future of American assistance.

Austin “traveled to Ukraine today to meet with Ukrainian leaders and reinforce the staunch support of the United States for Ukraine’s fight for freedom,” the Pentagon said in a statement on the trip, which was not announced ahead of time due to security concerns.

“He will also underscore the continued US commitment to providing Ukraine with the security assistance it needs to defend itself from Russian aggression,” it said.

The trip to Kyiv — via train from Poland — is the Pentagon leader’s second since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Washington is by far the biggest donor of military assistance to Kyiv, and a cut to American aid would be a major blow to Ukraine as it readies for the second winter of the war.

Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged lawmakers during a hearing in October to sustain support for Ukraine, with the US defense chief saying that “without our support, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will be successful.”

But some Republican lawmakers oppose continued aid, and new support for Ukraine was left out of a temporary deal passed by Congress last week to avert a US government shutdown.

US assistance has not however been halted and there is still previously authorized aid to draw on.

But Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said earlier this month that assistance packages “have been getting smaller because we have had to meter out our support for Ukraine.”

The United States has spearheaded the push for international support for Ukraine, quickly forging a coalition to back Kyiv after Russia invaded and coordinating aid from dozens of countries.

Ukraine’s supporters have also provided training to Kyiv’s troops, while the United States and other countries imposed tough sanctions on Russia, with targets including financial institutions, technology imports and energy exports.

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Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict US Ukraine Lloyd Austin

In rare Israel rebuke, US restricts visas on extremist settlers

Updated 16 sec ago

Arab News

December 06, 2023 02:24

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In rare Israel rebuke, US restricts visas on extremist settlers

US would refuse entry to anyone involved in ‘undermining peace, security or stability in the West Bank’

Updated 16 sec ago

Arab News

December 06, 2023 02:24

LONDON: In a rare punitive move against Israel, the US State Department said Tuesday it will impose travel bans on extremist Jewish settlers implicated in a rash of recent attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

"Today, the State Department is implementing a new visa restriction policy targeting individuals believed to have been involved in undermining peace, security, or stability in the West Bank, including through committing acts of violence or taking other actions that unduly restrict civilians’ access to essential services and basic necessities," it said in a statement by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Blinken announced the step after repeatedly warning Israel last week that President Joe Biden's administration would be taking action over the attacks. Blinken did not announce individual visa bans, but officials said those would be coming this week and could affect dozens of settlers and their families.

"Immediate family members of such persons also may be subject to these restrictions," Blinken said, however, the statement did not identify any individuals facing visa bans, or say how many would be targeted.

The decision comes at a sensitive moment in U.S.-Israeli relations. The Biden administration has firmly backed Israel since an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, even as international criticism of Israel has mounted.

But in recent weeks, the administration has stepped up calls on Israel to do more to limit civilian casualties as the Israelis expand their offensive and target densely populated southern Gaza.

Daily settler attacks have more than doubled, U.N. figures show, since Hamas, which controls the separate Palestinian enclave of Gaza, killed 1,200 Israelis and took about 240 hostage. Israel has since bombed and invaded Gaza, killing more than 16,000 people.

"The United States has consistently opposed actions that undermine stability in the West Bank, including attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, and Palestinian attacks against Israelis," Blinken said.

"We have underscored to the Israeli government the need to do more to hold accountable extremist settlers who have committed violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank," he added. "As President Biden has repeatedly said, those attacks are unacceptable. Last week in Israel, I made clear that the United States is ready to take action using our own authorities."

During meetings in Israel last week, Blinken told officials Washington was "ready to take action using our own authorities," he said.

Blinken said Washington would "continue to seek accountability for all acts of violence against civilians in the West Bank, regardless of the perpetrator or the victim," and would "continue to engage with the Israeli leadership to make clear that Israel must take additional measures to protect Palestinian civilians from extremist attacks."

He also called on the "Palestinian Authority to make clear it must do more to curb Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

"Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have the responsibility to uphold stability in the West Bank," Blinken said, adding: "Instability in the West Bank both harms the Israeli and Palestinian people and threatens Israel’s national security interests. Those responsible for it must be held accountable."

Tuesday's move comes just a month after Israel was granted entry into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which allows its citizens visa-free entry into the U.S. Those targeted by the action will not be eligible for the program, and those who hold current U.S. visas will have them revoked.

(With AP and Reuters)

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Topics: War on Gaza Palestine Gaza US visa

Cameron to reaffirm British support for Ukraine in US visit

Updated 1 min 15 sec ago

Reuters

December 06, 2023 03:30

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Cameron to reaffirm British support for Ukraine in US visit

The US Congress has approved more than $110 billion for Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, but has not cleared any more funds since Republicans took control of the House from President Joe Biden’s Democrats in January

Updated 1 min 15 sec ago

Reuters

December 06, 2023 03:30

LONDON: Britain’s foreign minister David Cameron will underline the importance of support and humanitarian funding for Ukraine during his first visit to Washington since he assumed his post last month, the UK foreign office said on Wednesday.
The former prime minister will travel to the United States to reaffirm both the strength of Britain’s relationship with Washington and London’s continued support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
The US Congress has approved more than $110 billion for Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, but has not cleared any more funds since Republicans took control of the House from President Joe Biden’s Democrats in January.
Last month, Cameron used his first trip abroad to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
“The Foreign Secretary has announced a new winter humanitarian response package of 29 million pounds ($36.52 million) for Ukraine and will bolster support with a further 7.75 million pounds ($9.76 million) for humanitarian activities,” the foreign office said in a statement.
It comes as Britain is set to target military and foreign suppliers exporting equipment and parts to Russia, among dozens of individuals and groups, through a series of sanctions.
The foreign office said that in Washington Cameron would also discuss the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and getting humanitarian aid to those affected in Israeli-besieged Gaza.
“We also stand united in the Middle East, working together to ensure long-term security and stability in the region, and in responding to the challenges posed by China,” Cameron said.
Britain and the United States can work toward a long-term two-state solution which allows both Israel and the Palestinians can co-exist in peace, his office said. ($1 = 0.7941 pounds)

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Topics: UK US Ukraine

One in five children in rich countries lives in poverty: UNICEF

Iraqi children sit in an empoverished area on the edges of Nasiriyah, capital of Dhi Qar province, on September 25, 2023. (AFP)

Updated 8 min 50 sec ago

AFP

December 06, 2023 03:08

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One in five children in rich countries lives in poverty: UNICEF

The report called for action to ensure children’s well-being and for political will among the countries surveyed, stressing that a country’s’ wealth did not automatically lift its children out of poverty

Updated 8 min 50 sec ago

AFP

December 06, 2023 03:08

UNITED NATIONS, United States: Sixty-nine million children — or more than one in five — live in poverty in the world’s 40 richest countries UNICEF said in a report released Wednesday, blasting Britain and France for their particularly bad standings.
That’s despite a drop in child poverty rates in the periods from 2012 to 2014 and 2019 to 2021, by around 8 percent in the 40 European Union and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) wealthy countries assessed.
“This is equivalent to around 6 million children out of a total child population of 291 million,” said UNICEF Innocenti, the United Nations agency’s research arm.
But at the end of 2021 there were still more than 69 million kids in poverty in those countries.
“For most children this means that they may grow up without enough nutritious food, clothes, school supplies or a warm place to call home,” said Bo Viktor Nylund of UNICEF Innocenti, highlighting the impact of such struggles on young people’s physical and mental health.
The UNICEF figure is based on relative poverty, which is around 60 percent of the national median income, often used in developed countries to establish their own poverty levels.
The report called for action to ensure children’s well-being and for political will among the countries surveyed, stressing that a country’s’ wealth did not automatically lift its children out of poverty.
Since 2012, the biggest setbacks have been seen in some of the richest countries.
Britain saw a 19.6 percent jump in child poverty — or half a million extra children, and France’s rate went up 10.4 percent.
In the United States, the number of poor children has fallen by 6.7 percent, but more than one child in four still lives in relative poverty.
And the poverty rate in 2019-2021 was twice as high as in Denmark, a country with a similar per-capita income.
Underlining the link between child poverty and economic inequality, the report also highlights the greater risk of poverty for children from single-parent families and minority backgrounds.
In the United States, 30 percent of African American children and 29 percent of Native American children live below the national poverty line, compared with only one-in-10 non-Hispanic white children.
In the EU, a child with parents of non-EU nationality is 2.4 times more likely to live in poverty.

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Topics: UNICEF

Zelensky cancels plan to address US lawmakers, fate of aid in balance

Updated 6 sec ago

Reuters

December 06, 2023 02:07

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Zelensky cancels plan to address US lawmakers, fate of aid in balance

Senate rules dictate that most legislation requires 60 votes to advance in the 100-member chamber

Updated 6 sec ago

Reuters

December 06, 2023 02:07

WASHINGTON: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky canceled plans to appeal directly to US lawmakers for new aid on Tuesday, as a partisan battle over immigration policy threatened to derail President Joe Biden’s request for billions of dollars for Kyiv’s fight against Russia.
Republicans and Biden’s fellow Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives have been debating for weeks over Biden’s October request that Congress approve $106 billion for Ukraine, Israel, security at the US border with Mexico and US interests in the Indo-Pacific.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, said funds for Ukraine, which has been fighting a full-scale invasion by Russia since February 2022, must be tied to “transformative change” in US immigration policy.
On Tuesday, Senate Democrats unveiled their $110.5 billion bill addressing Biden’s request, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would try to break the impasse by offering Republicans the chance to add an amendment on border policy on legislation including aid to Ukraine and Israel.
“Let’s remember here: It was the Republicans who put border on the table. We did not. They have a responsibility if they believe border should be part of Ukraine, which is so vital to our country, let them propose an amendment that can get 60 votes,” Schumer told a weekly press conference.
Senate rules dictate that most legislation requires 60 votes to advance in the 100-member chamber.
The Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, who spoke right after Schumer made his amendment offer, said he would nonetheless urge Senate Republicans to vote against the Democratic-backed legislation.
“We’re serious about having some significant changes in how we protect our southern border as a part of the overall package,” McConnell said.
“I hope all our members vote no,” McConnell said.
Members of the House of Representatives and Senate attended classified briefings by top Biden administration officials, which Zelensky had been expected to address via videolink. But Schumer said the Ukrainian leader was unable to attend.
“Something happened at the last minute,” Schumer told reporters.
Senators said their briefing was acrimonious. Schumer said one lawmaker, whom he did not identify, had shouted at one of the top generals.

HOUSE OBJECTIONS
The most serious objections to Ukraine aid came from the Republican-led House. On Tuesday, Johnson released a letter demanding more information from Biden’s administration about its strategy for Ukraine, and insisting that immigration policy changes be part of any funding bill.
“I reiterate that President Biden must satisfy Congressional oversight inquiries about the Administration’s failure thus far to present clearly defined objectives, and its failure to provide essential weapons (for Ukraine) on a timely basis,” Johnson wrote.
According to Johnson’s letter, he met with administration officials on Oct. 26 and said then “that supplemental Ukraine funding is dependent upon enactment of transformative change to our nation’s border security laws.”
Johnson’s letter was a reply to one from White House budget director Shalanda Young on Monday in which she warned that Washington was running out of time and money to help Ukraine fight its war against Russia.
Congress has approved about $113 billion for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, but it has not backed any new funds since Republicans took control of the House from Biden’s fellow Democrats in January.
Johnson himself voted against more security assistance for Kyiv as recently as September.
Ukrainian officials have been making their own appeals for assistance. Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, told a conference that the postponement of US assistance for Kyiv being debated in Congress would create a “big risk” of Ukraine’s losing the war with Russia.

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Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict US Russia

War against terror group Daesh is expanding into Africa, US official admits

Updated 06 December 2023

RAY HANANIA

December 06, 2023 02:24

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War against terror group Daesh is expanding into Africa, US official admits

Ian J. McCary, from the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau, says the battle against terrorism is being affected by other conflicts, including the war in Gaza
After initially focusing on Syria and Iraq, the international coalition working to defeat Daesh is adopting a strategy of regionalization to prevent group’s expansion in Africa and Central Asia

Updated 06 December 2023

RAY HANANIA

December 06, 2023 02:24

CHICAGO: The war against terror group Daesh has expanded into other regions outside of the Middle East, a leading US counterterrorism official said on Tuesday.

Ian J. McCary, who works at the State Department as its Counterterrorism Bureau’s deputy special envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, conceded that the fight against Daesh (another name for which is ISIS) is now being affected by other conflicts in the region, including Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

When the international battle against the terror group began in 2014, its efforts mainly focused on Syria and Iraq, where the group’s leaders established a foothold and declared a caliphate. Since then, however, fresh conflicts have reenergized Daesh’s activities in Syria and Iraq, McCary added, but the coalition is now also targeting the group’s affiliates in sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia.

The 40 member nations, including several from Africa, that took part in the coalition’s recent annual meeting in Italy discussed this strategy of “regionalization” in response to the spread and expansion of terrorist groups in these parts of the world, he said during a media briefing.

“In terms of regionalization, what we mean by that is obviously when the coalition started, all of the focus was on defeating the so-called territorial caliphate which Daesh had created in northeastern Syria and Iraq, and all of the attention was on that particular theater, and the threat has evolved significantly,” he explained.

“The challenges in northeastern Syria, and particularly and also in Iraq, persist but they are of a very different nature than they were back in 2014 to 2019, roughly. And then we have worked over the past few years to increase the coalition’s focus on sub-Saharan Africa and also Central Asia.

“The challenges on the African continent alone are so dispersed, geographically, that it made sense to break the problem apart and deal with it more piece by piece.”

He acknowledged that despite the strong support provided by coalition partners, including Turkiye, the expansion of Daesh into other regions requires more and better coordination of resources and counterterrorism efforts.

This spread of the group in Africa, Central Asia, and also Afghanistan, is in part the result of the support it receives from Iran, and the coup in Niger in July this year also played a part, McCary acknowledged. Turkiye has played a significant role in efforts to combat the Daesh expansion in sub-Saharan Africa, he added.

“We have been outspoken in (our) rejection of the very unconstructive role, or malignant role, that Iran and its proxies have been playing in northeastern Syria, as well as in other parts of the Middle East,” he said.

“We are also absolutely determined that we will not be deterred in conducting our (anti-Daesh) operations in northeastern Syria. We are applying the resources and implementing the tactics necessary both to defend our forces against any such attacks and continue our campaign against the remnants of Daesh in that region.”

The war in Gaza and conflicts in other regions have resulted in a resurgence of Daesh terrorism in Syria and Iraq, where the group’s activities began.

“We have an extraordinary partnership with Iraqi special forces and we have a lot of confidence in their capabilities to defend Iraqi sovereignty and to defend their people against any threats from remnants of Daesh in Iraq,” McCary said.

“We are also continuing undeterred (in our efforts) to defeat the Daesh elements that remain in northeastern Syria … We do believe Daesh is seeking opportunities to exploit the violence in the conflict between Israel and Hamas for its own purposes. But, again, we are determined that we are going to remain steadfast in our operations to defeat Daesh.”

He stressed that despite the many complex challenges “crowding the global agenda today, there is still a very strong international will not to be distracted in our efforts to defeat (Daesh), and to continue to refine our tactics and deploy whatever tools we need to deploy to ensure Daesh can’t threaten international security in the future.”

McCary took up his current position as deputy special envoy in September 2022. From August 2021 to August 2022 he served as charge d’affaires for the US mission to Afghanistan, also known as the Afghanistan Affairs Unit, based in Doha, Qatar.

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US defense secretary in unannounced visit to Ukraine

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