European Commission has announced his commitment stop Russian President, Vladimir Putin from using his war chest to wreck monumental destruction in Ukraine.
The commission through its President, Ursula Von Der Leyen also disclosed its stance to cut off Russia from using the globally recognised inter banks payments platform, SWIFT to stop the country financial transactions worldwide.
Reuters
The Kremlin says a Russian delegation has arrived in the Belarusian city of Homel for talks with Ukrainian officials.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the delegation includes military officials and diplomats. “The Russian delegation is ready for talks, and we are now waiting for the Ukrainians,” Peskov said.
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials, who previously expressed their own readiness for peace talks with Russia but haven’t mentioned any specific details on their location and timing.
Russian invaded Ukraine on Thursday, and its troops are closing in on the capital, Kyiv, and making significant gains along the country’s coast.
A Ukrainian official said street fighting broke out in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, on Sunday following a wave of attacks elsewhere targeting airfields and fuel facilities that appeared to mark a new phase of the invasion
The United States government is considering freezing the $643 billion in reserves of the Russian central bank amassed by President Vladimir Putin following his invasion of Ukraine.
Bloomberg reports that while decisions on the fresh sanction were yet to be finalised, the President Joe Biden administration was urgently exploring options to severely limit Russia’s ability to advance its military operations in Ukraine.
Sources familiar with the matter told the New York-based media outlet that U.S. was aiming to impose the fresh sanctions in conjunction with allies across Europe to maximally incapacitate Moscow.
Despite steadily reducing its foreign currency dependency, Russia’s central bank at the end of June 2021 was reported to still have 16.4 per cent of its holdings in dollars.
The consideration for stiffer sanctions come days after Mr Biden announced sanctions targeting Russian assets in response to the expanded invasion of Ukraine on Thursday.
The earlier announced sanctions include export blocks on technology, which the Biden administration said would severely limit Russia’s ability to advance its military and aerospace sector.
Mr Biden also applied sanctions on four Russian banks and “corrupt billionaires” and their families who are close to the Kremlin. These banks hold over $1 trillion in assets, including the country’s largest bank.
Also, European leaders on Friday decided to impose a second batch of sanctions to incapacitate the Russian economy, setting its target on banks, state-owned companies and individuals. However, at first they had been undecided about blocking Russia from SWIFT.
France had supported cutting off Russia from the global SWIFT payment system and was also ready to supply weapons and military equipment to Ukraine.
However, Germany’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, said on Friday that his government was “open” to cutting Russia from Swift.
Peoples Gazette had earlier reported Hungary’s support for cutting Russia off the banking network.
On Saturday, the EU began the process to cut off Russia from the Swift banking system according to reports from European media.
Roman Abramovich, the Russian business magnate, has surrendered control of his UK football club Chelsea to a foundation.
A statement issued by Mr Abramovich on Saturday said he had decided to end control of the club after nearly 20 years.
His decision came amidst clamour for Chelsea and other assets run by Mr Abramovich in the UK to be confiscated over his ties to Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who recently ordered the invasion of independent Ukraine.
See the full statement issued by Mr Abramovich and published on the Chelsea website below:
During my nearly 20-year ownership of Chelsea FC, I have always viewed my role as a custodian of the Club, whose job it is ensuring that we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future, while also playing a positive role in our communities.
I have always taken decisions with the Club’s best interest at heart. I remain committed to these values. That is why I am today giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable Foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC.
I believe that currently they are in the best position to look after the interests of the Club, players, staff, and fans.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed not to retreat in a video filmed outside his office in Kyiv, pledging to fight as Russia’s invading forces stormed towards the capital.
“I am here. We will not lay down any weapons. We will defend our state, because our weapons are our truth,” he declared in the clip that was posted on Saturday morning, urging residents not to believe in “fakes” about the surrender of the Ukrainian army.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released timetable for the next year general elections adding that, the presidential election will hold on February 25, 2023.
Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, disclosed this on Saturday at a media briefing in Abuja.
The INEC boss added that, the national assembly elections will hold on the same day, while governorship and state house of assembly polls will take place on March 11, 2023.
Yakubu explained that the new date is to allow for conformity with the provisions of the Electoral laws which stipulates that elections notice be published at least 260 days to the elections.
He also stated that, the electoral guidelines will also be published in due course.
The new Act states that INEC must publish the notice of election at least 360 days to the polls.
The management of Obafemi Awolowo University has approved the inauguration and swearing-in of elected students’ union leaders of the institution five months after the election.
The inauguration of the elected officers was contained in a release issued by the electoral chairman, Ajayi Oluwafemi also known as ‘efem Castro’ on Saturday.
According to the release, the inauguration and swearing in of the Union Officers is scheduled to take place on Thursday 3rd 2022 at Oduduwa Hall by 12:00pm.
The release read in part: ‘past months have been characterized by our unswerving efforts to ensure the swearing-in and inauguration and leadership retreat of/for the elected union officers at the CEC, SRC and HEC levels were done as stipulated in the election calendar until unforeseen circumstances took over the course.
“However, we are elated to announce that the CEC, Leadership of the SRC and HEC’s Chairpersons will proceed on a leadership training by next week and the Inauguration and Swearing-in Ceremony will hold unfailing’.
Reacting to the development, the Dean of Students Affairs, Prof. Isihaq Aransi in a phone chat with Vreporters confirmed the date announced by the electoral chairman adding that, the students leaders will be heading out of campus for leadership retreat.
Aransi said: ‘it’s true, in fact tomorrow, the students’ union leaders are moving out of Ife for a leadership retreat at Miccom Golf Hotels and Resorts in Ada Osun State and the University has put everything that will make the training a success in place’.
Asked about what led to the delay of the inauguration about five months after the conclusion of the election, Aransi stated that, ‘well, you are aware of what happened within the University system, so, it’s only when the approval was given we can go ahead’.
Aransi’s allusion to what led to the delay was the protest embarked upon by the entire students of the varsity including the newly elected officers in October, 2021 over the death of a part four student, Aisha Adesina who died as a result of what some students tagged as negligence by the health officials who were on duty , though the school in a swift rejoinder debunked the students’ narrative, adding that, the school tried its best to save the life of the final year student.
Punch Newspaper
Centenarian High Chief Josephine Ezeanyaeche, who recently declared her ambition to become Nigeria’s President in 2023, speaks to IKENNA OBIANERI about her motivation and strategy.
Please tell us about yourself.
My name is High Chief Josephine Ezeanyaeche. I am from Akukwa Village, Ubukwu, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State and I am the Ezinne Gburugburu of Akukwa Ngo, Igbo-Ukwu.
I am also the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Voice of the Senior Citizens of Nigeria. I am 102 years old. I attended grammar school in those days – what you people call secondary school now – before going abroad for further studies. I am an activist, both abroad and home. I am a great great grandmother. I am a widow and.
How was your growing up like?
Growing up was full of discipline in those days, we were taught hard work. We were taught morals and our hands were given out in marriage very early in life. My father was a chief warder in the old Bendel State. My mother was a businesswoman.
Recently, you declared interest in becoming Nigeria’s President. Why do you consider yourself suitable for the job?
All my life, I have lived a life of service and offering humanitarian aid. I have travelled far and wide and garnered enough experience to lead a nation. I have spent my life mostly abroad and I have seen the countries that are flying high and I have seen countries that are facing challenges, especially corruption.
And I have seen my own country, Nigeria, going from bad to worse and I have decided to rise up to the occasion because this country needs to be salvaged by all means before it becomes irredeemable and we, the senior citizens, cannot continue to fold our arms. We need to return Nigeria to the country of our dreams. I have seen people suffer, I have seen people lose their lives needlessly due to insecurity, I have seen people going to bed without eating and I have seen our young ones roaming the streets in search of employment.
I have seen people who do not have hope in sight and I have seen people committing suicide today more than during our own time. In fact, during our own time, you could not see people thinking of anything that would make them commit suicide, but today, it has become a common phenomenon.
I have seen the health care system in the country gone down to nothing; I have seen factories closing down with many having no jobs. I have seen people taking flights to other countries to access health care system. I have seen our children die in the desert and in the ocean because they were looking for greener pastures.
So, I said to myself, I can do better than our recent leaders. However, that has not always been my intention. But having waited up till today and seeing that people are just being recycled over and over again within the same government, as if there are no other people in this country of 200 million people who can equally do the job and even better, (I have decided to come out); more so because as a matter of fact 50 per cent, if not 90 per cent, of the people being recycled in government are well-known as corrupt individuals.
I have watched our young men and women, who I know that if they are given the platform, they will not only perform but clearly outperform the current people in leadership circles today; they would use their creative energies to transform Nigeria and in no time, Nigeria would be resurrected to start competing with the successful countries around the world.
In terms of human and capital development, Nigeria has gone down.
Nigerians are suffering while the wealth of the nation is circulating in the hands of very few people. So, we need a leader who can be creative, a no-nonsense leader who can think out of the box to give the country the kind of leadership it deserves.
I am coming out now because the younger ones are not ready to come out and I don’t know why they are afraid, especially those ones from the South-East.
In my recent media interview, I talked about the issue and why the younger ones are afraid of coming out. And I did not see our young men and women declaring interest. Although, I am seeing one or two coming out, they are not coming out like a lion; they are coming out as if they are afraid. So, there is no reason for us not to come out – men and women – to challenge the recycling going on in the polity.
You know power is not given, even in those days; you must come out to get it. And I am saying to them, if they are not ready to come out, I have already shown my interest to come out. My posters, very soon, will flood everywhere. I believe the whole world will vote for me, not only Nigerians, if they have a way of voting. I will not be afraid in a country that I joined others to build, and trust me, I have made my own contribution in the building of this nation and I can’t be afraid of anything.
There are a lot of people who were not born here but they are contesting and winning elections.
How much me, who was born here? This country needs somebody who has integrity, knowledge and understanding of the peculiarities and challenges of this country. I am a critical stakeholder in this country and nature will blame me if I continue to look the other way while the current politicians we have now destroy things.
Look at our currency, it has no value in reality and you want me to keep quiet when obviously there are a lot I can do to help salvage the situation.
The youths of this country are afraid to take the bull by the horns and I don’t know why it is so, especially the youths from the South-East.
Presidential electioneering campaign involves heavy spending. How do you hope to raise such money?
Take it or leave it, once Nigerians see somebody like me, they will want to identify with me, and my plans are working already because Nigerians and people all over the world are saying, “Yes, come out; we will sponsor your campaigns.” Since my declaration was made public, many people have called, they have asked me to put out my bank account details so that they can deposit money.
But I am not a worshipper of money, I want Nigerians to buy into and claim ownership of my government. I want Nigerians to buy into this project and be in charge of the government that will come out of this.
Don’t you think that when you allow people to sponsor your campaign, they will force you to do things their own way or have undue influence on your government?
The people will not lead me into the ocean; they can only tell me that they need factories to be built; they need the currency to be strengthened; they need security, they need employment. These are the things the Nigerian people want. I am a versatile person; I have founded so many groups with people that cut across various ethnic groups. I have done well to show that I can deliver this country from its present condition. I can unite this country. I fought the South African apartheid; I fought the war in Burundi. There is nothing I cannot do for my country. By the time I complete my eight years’ rule, Nigeria will become another Dubai.
At your age, do you think you still have the energy that the office of the President requires?
Energy is God-given and God-made. I have the God-given energy which He has blessed me with. I am still strong enough to move around and I really don’t have to be everywhere. I will have team members to delegate duties to. Nelson Mandela ruled South Africa at the age he ruled and we all saw how he galvanized that country within the period.
He came and did the much he could do within the four years he ruled. If I come out in four years and God says I should go for another four years, I will do. Thank God, we have the social media available to simplify all the tasks involved.
Like the current President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), you are an aged person. Do you really believe you can do better than him as President?
Well, Buhari is just like my first son and I think he is trying his best. It is one thing to be a king while it is another to be a kingmaker. If you are a king and the kingmakers are more powerful than you are, it is also makes another greater difference. Buhari has done his bit the way he understands it but I agree he could have done far better. Buhari has tried his best but his best is not just good enough to salvage this country. He did not realise what he was coming to face, that was why he kept promising Nigerians here and there. But the realities on the ground have dawned on him and it became obvious right from the outset that his capacity could not take Nigeria out of its current mess.
He has tried, but the effort is not just enough.
To answer your question: Can I do better? (Let’s wait) until then because I will take a different approach. I will have better advisers. One thing I can tell you is that Nigeria will be great again under my leadership.
Given your age, people are saying that your declaration is a publicity stunt. What is your response to such people?
Before now, I have done so much in this world and you have never heard my voice or my name. Publicity is not my ambition. I have achieved so much that publicity is not my problem. If I start mentioning all my achievements, we won’t finish (this interview) in three days. What I can tell you for free is that the issue of this country bothers me so much.
And this is why I am coming out. This was not how we laid the foundation of our great country. What am I using publicity to do at this point? I have successful children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
The issue is that I can’t continue to stay aloof while charlatans, who did not know the sacrifice we put in for this country to come into existence, continue to mess it up. God has kept me alive up till now so that I can bring the desired change that this country truly needs. I am so wealthy that I give what I have.
So, what am I looking for? What I have done is not for my country alone, I have contributed so much to the growth of the world. There is so much rot in the system and the present leaders don’t know what to do.
What are your children’s opinions about your presidential ambition?
In fact, they are the happiest people right now. They are very impressed by my strong will to come out to salvage this country.
They are my cheerleaders and my backbone. They are watching the way I am doing things and they are telling me, “Grandma, when I grow up, I will love to be like you.” I haven’t heard any of them saying otherwise. They are very happy wherever they are and I adopted so many children. A lot of people have been calling me since they read about my declaration in the media.
The he youths of this country must rise up. If the youths are folding their arms while old people like me are being recycled in government, then let me too enter race. Let the youths continue to complain in the social media. We have so many vibrant young people for God’s sake, where are they? Let them come out and stop complaining in the social media! Go abroad, Nigerian youths are doing exploits, but here, they are laid-back. And if they don’t want to rise, let me come out. I won’t see Nigerians going hungry, I won’t see Nigerians going to bed without food, I won’t see youths unemployed and be comfortable as a President. But most of the Presidents we have had in this country seem to be delighted about this. I will not see my old people not being taken care of. The old people built this country; therefore, they should not be denied what rightfully belongs to them. How can they relegate us, the old people, in a country we built together? This will never happen under my watch. Our children will go to school up to university free of charge.
A situation where an individual will embezzle public funds and he or she joins the party in power and the sins are forgiven won’t happen under me.
On what political party will you be running?
I am still making consultations. I am consulting widely, home and abroad. Some political parties have approached me to adopt me as their candidate. At the right time I will make the party known.
What are your expectations and your message to Nigerians as regards the 2023 elections?
My message to them is that the future is still very bright for this country, despite the challenges it is facing now, but Nigerians must make the right choices in 2023 and stop glorifying criminals.
Nigerians must stop praising those who are stealing the wealth that belongs to them and keeping them in abject poverty. The youths should come out and stop hiding in the social media. The rot and damage is massive and it is because the young ones have left the affairs of this country, their future, far too long, in the hands of recycled leaders. The damage can make one to despair, but I will tell Nigerians that there is still hope of redemption if we start doing the right things. The people should stop collecting money from politicians during elections.
As for 2023, we are praying and calling on God not to allow those who are squandering the wealth and resources of this country to have their way back. This is the only country we have, especially the young ones. As for me, I have seen it all, what else am I still seeking other than the growth of my country? I say no to the exodus of our young ones to foreign lands as a result of bad governance. I want Nigerians to make a U-turn in the way they select their leaders.
By Owei Lakemfa
I am not sure anybody knows what the outcome of these unnecessary conflicts will be. The solution I see is: first, a de-escalation of the conflict, a ceasefire by all sides, including in Eastern Ukraine, and a negotiated settlement… A resuscitation of the Minsk Agreements is a good place to begin. The United Nations (UN) should concentrate on these, rather than hold endless meetings seeking to blame one side or the other.
The eight-year war in Ukraine took a dramatic turn yesterday when Russian troops officially rolled into the country on the side of the separatist rebels in Eastern Ukraine. It was also to insist on its position that Ukraine’s decision to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) threatens Russia’s security.
Ukraine, which since 2014 had declared itself at war with Russia, had on November 25, 2018 sent two gunboats, the Nikopol and the Berdyansk, and a tug boat, the Yani Kapu, into the Kerch Strait in the Crimea to confront the Russian Navy units. However, none of the previous confrontations compares with this week’s military conflicts, which Russia claims is a limited military operation to “demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine” but which the latter says is an outright invasion.
Months of claims by NATO of an impending Russian invasion had been capped this month by the United States deciding to send troops to Romania and Poland. However, events took a dramatic turn on Monday, February 21, when Russian president, Vladimir Putin, called an exraordinary meeting of the country’s security council.
Three things struck me about this meeting. The first was that its deliberations were public. Second, a conclusion that Russia had been pushed to the wall with the infliction of renewed Western sanctions and non-respect of Russian position on the Eastward expansion of NATO.
The third was a complaint about the non-implementation of previous agreements, including the Minsk I &II Protocols designed to end the war in Ukraine. The meeting, therefore, decided to recognise the two breakaway Ukrainian Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The next day, the Russian parliament, the Duma, voted to give Putin permission to use military force outside the country. On Wednesday, Donetsk and Luhansk formally requested that Russian troops be sent into their separatist republics.
The next morning, Russian troops began pouring, not just into the East, but also other parts of Ukraine. Putin’s announced intention is the protection of the civilian populations in the Eastern Region and regime change, while the Ukrainian government said it is an attempt to occupy the country.
American President Joe Biden claimed the Russian attack is “unprovoked”. What is his deploying American troops to the region for, especially Poland, if not provocation? The United States would not have allowed Chinese troops pouring into Mexico or Russia setting up missiles in Cuba; so how does it expect Russia to lie back as it is being surrounded by hostile NATO troops?
A major casualty in the war would be the truth, as all sides rev up their propaganda. Within hours of the attacks, the Ukrainian government announced it had destroyed five Russian war planes and an helicopter. On the other hand, the Russians, who denied the Ukranian claims, announced they had neutralised the Ukranian defence system. Eventually, the truth would lie in the rubbles of the war.
There are various declarations, such as the European Union’s, threatening to impose the “harshest sanctions ever” on Russia. But it is easier for those countries to issue threats from the safety of their countries, while the Ukrainians do the dying and witness their country and economy being destroyed by avoidable wars.
A major casualty in the war would be the truth, as all sides rev up their propaganda. Within hours of the attacks, the Ukrainian government announced it had destroyed five Russian war planes and an helicopter. On the other hand, the Russians, who denied the Ukranian claims, announced they had neutralised the Ukranian defence system. Eventually, the truth would lie in the rubbles of the war.
The wars in Ukraine have their origins in a country polarised between a war-mongering EU/NATO and an edgy Russian bear. The immediate trigger was the 2014 coup against elected President Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian politician from Eastern Ukraine who, back in 2004, had been denied the presidency after winning a runoff.
This time, he was overthrown in a violent coup because his government preferred to sign a trade agreement with Russia, rather than with the EU. For the East Ukrainians who had put their fate in free and fair elections, this second coup against a political leader from their side seemed too much a price to pay and they made a battle cry: ‘To your tents Oh Israel!’
It is that civil war that has now festered into a full scale international war, with the Russians backing the rebels and NATO propping up the government in Kiev.
In my November 30, 2018 analysis of the Ukrainian War titled “Ukraine’s Farcical Drama,” I had written that: “The disputes in Ukraine are likely to go on for a long time, but I think the country shot itself in the foot by using the populace of one part of the country to overthrow the legitimately elected government led by politicians from another part of the country.”
I had argued that the military option adopted by Kiev would not lead to peace and that if Ukraine were to witness peace and reunite, “it may need to consider the restoration of the Yanukovych administration as part of national reconciliation; if this seems far-fetched, so does the reunification of the country.”
But the war on ground would neither be lost nor won on propaganda but by reworking the failed diplomacy that has led to today’s events. It might be fashionable or profitable to blame Russia, but what do you do with the so-called international community that has pretended for eight years that those dying in Eastern Ukraine never existed?
Fortunately, in May 2019, Ukraine was able to replace the infantile, warmongering President Petro Poroshenko with a more sensible President Volodymyr Zelensky who, in the April 21 rerun election, trounced the incumbent by taking 73.22 per cent of the votes, with Poroshenko clinching only 24.45 per cent.
Although a comedian by profession, Zelensky was dead serious about bringing peace. But apparently, the warmongers have had the upper hand and war has not only continued, but escalated. There are lots of propaganda around the conflicts in Ukraine.
But the war on ground would neither be lost nor won on propaganda but by reworking the failed diplomacy that has led to today’s events. It might be fashionable or profitable to blame Russia, but what do you do with the so-called international community that has pretended for eight years that those dying in Eastern Ukraine never existed?
I am not sure anybody knows what the outcome of these unnecessary conflicts will be. The solution I see is: first, a de-escalation of the conflict, a ceasefire by all sides, including in Eastern Ukraine, and a negotiated settlement.
A resuscitation of the Minsk Agreements is a good place to begin. The United Nations (UN) should concentrate on these, rather than hold endless meetings seeking to blame one side or the other. The UN Security Council should be put to better use, rather than turned into a debating club where accusations and counter-accusations fly.
The contending forces in Europe and America are far too gone in their politics of self-justification and blame to be useful in the process. Germany that had hitherto played a more reconciliatory role has now been sucked into the fray.
Perhaps other parts of the world, especially the underdeveloped world, might be more useful. Fortunately, Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, is in Moscow; can he begin to lay the foundations for a peaceful resolution? At this time, we miss a leader like Nelson Mandela.
Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.
United Kingdom government on Friday ordered all assets of President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov frozen over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Treasury issued a financial sanctions notice against the two men, adding them to a list of Russian oligarchs who have already had their property and bank accounts in the UK frozen.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier told his NATO partners that he was planning “imminent” sanctions against Putin and Lavrov.
Downing Street said Johnson told his counterparts that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a “catastrophe” and the Kremlin chief was “engaging in a revanchist mission to overturn post-Cold War order”.
Warning that Putin “may not stop there” and calling the situation a “Euro-Atlantic crisis with global consequences”, he urged leaders to cut Russia off from the SWIFT international bank transfer system “to inflict maximum pain”.
Johnson’s comments ratchet up British action this week against Russian interests including banks, businesses and billionaires, though some lawmakers and experts have said the UK is not going far enough.
And it will bring Britain more into line with the European Union, which slapped sanctions on Putin and Lavrov on Friday.
– ‘No British troops’ –
Even earlier in the day, Britain and nine other northern European defence allies from the so-called Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) agreed in a call that further sanctions were needed on Russia.
“The leaders agreed that more sanctions were needed, including focusing on President Putin’s inner circle, building on the measures that had already been agreed,” Johnson’s office said after the meeting.
The JEF, set up in 2012, is made up of NATO members Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom, and non-members Finland and Sweden.
It is focused on security in the “High North” region around the Arctic, the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea area.
At a meeting of its defence ministers on Tuesday, they announced upcoming manoeuvres in the Baltic Sea to demonstrate “freedom of movement” in the strategic zone.
Johnson pledged “further UK support to Ukraine” in a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday morning, as Russian forces closed in on the capital, Kyiv.
Britain has said it is ready to provide Ukraine with additional military support including lethal defensive weapons, but Defence Secretary Ben Wallace ruled out sending troops.
He told BBC television that Britain would “hold the line in NATO”, adding: “I’m not putting British troops directly to fight Russian troops.
“That would trigger a European war because we are a NATO country, and Russia would therefore be attacking NATO.”
Johnson praised “the bravery and heroism of the Ukrainian people in standing up to Russia’s campaign of violence”, according to Downing Street.
“The Prime Minister committed to provide further UK support to Ukraine in the coming days as the people of Ukraine and the world continue to demonstrate that Putin cannot act with impunity,” it added.
AFP