US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced $400m in new arms for Ukraine on Monday during a visit to Kyiv, in a show of solidarity just two weeks before a US presidential election that is casting uncertainty over the future of Western support.
Poland said on Monday it had been a mistake to exclude Polish and Ukrainian leaders from last week’s meeting of US, German, British and French leaders in Berlin that focused on how to support Kyiv in its war with Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin would hold a news conference on Thursday following the BRICS summit Russia was hosting in Kazan, said Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov on Monday.
Pentagon chief visits Ukraine in show of support
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced $400-million in new arms for Ukraine on Monday during a visit to Kyiv, in a show of solidarity just two weeks before a US presidential election that is casting uncertainty over the future of Western support.
Austin’s trip, his fourth and likely final visit as President Joe Biden’s Pentagon chief, focused on US efforts to help Kyiv shore up its defences as Russian forces slowly but steadily gain ground in eastern Ukraine.
Austin cast Ukraine’s fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2½-year-old invasion as critical to the West’s security, saying failure to continue supporting Kyiv would result in “Putin’s shadow” falling over all Europe.
“We should all understand that Putin’s assault is a warning. It is a sneak preview of a world built by tyrants and thugs — a chaotic, violent world carved into spheres of influence,” he said in a speech.
As Austin stepped off the train in Kyiv after an overnight journey from Poland, Ukrainian officials reported new Russian attacks overnight on the capital that damaged residential buildings and injured at least one civilian.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, eager to regain the momentum in his fight against Russian forces, said in a statement on X that he had spoken to Austin about easing Biden’s restrictions on using US-supplied weapons to hit targets deep inside Russian territory.
But as the Biden administration winds down, Austin announced no changes to US policy. Instead, he announced additional munitions, armoured vehicles and anti-tank weapons for Ukraine.
Austin’s visit comes ahead of the 5 November US presidential vote, in which former president Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, is seeking re-election in a close race against Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate.
Trump has signalled he would be more reluctant than Biden to continue to support Ukraine, which could deprive Kyiv of its biggest military and financial backer.
Austin played down such concerns.
“I’ve seen bipartisan support for Ukraine over the last 2½ years, and I fully expect that we’ll continue to see the bipartisan support from Congress,” he said.
The retired four-star general has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest advocates, building a coalition of dozens of nations which has supplied Kyiv with weaponry that has helped it deal heavy blows to Russian forces.
One US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia had suffered 600,000 casualties of killed and wounded troops in Ukraine so far, with September being its heaviest month of fatalities and injuries.
But Putin seems content to invest more and more forces in a costly advance in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, which Moscow claims as its territory.
“It’s a very tough fight and it’s a tough slog,” Austin said of the challenges facing Ukrainian forces.
Excluding Poland from Berlin talks was a ‘mistake’ - Warsaw
Poland said on Monday it had been a mistake to exclude Polish and Ukrainian leaders from last week’s meeting of US, German, British and French leaders in Berlin that focused on how to support Kyiv in its war with Russia.
Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron held talks on Friday in Berlin to discuss how to end fighting in Ukraine as Russian forces advance in the east.
They also discussed the conflict in the Middle East.
Biden had originally been scheduled to convene a broader meeting of Ukraine’s military supporters, including Polish President Andrzej Duda, at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany but that was cancelled due to Hurricane Milton.
“If the topic is helping Ukraine, it is simply a mistake that neither Ukraine nor Poland took part in this meeting,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski told Reuters.
“If we are talking about aid for Ukraine, we must remember firstly that Poland is one of the countries that helps Ukraine the most and secondly that 90% of total deliveries [for Ukraine] go through Polish territory.”
Putin to end BRICS summit with news conference on Thursday
Putin would hold a news conference on Thursday following the BRICS summit Russia was hosting in Kazan, said Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov on Monday.
Delegations from 36 countries — 22 of them represented by heads of state — and six international organisations would be present in Kazan, said Ushakov.
Putin will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday and with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.
The Russia-hosted BRICS summit, which Moscow says represents evidence that Western efforts to isolate Russia over its actions in Ukraine have failed, runs from 22-24 October.
US legislators question oil company’s exception to Russian sanctions
Dozens of US representatives from both political parties urged the Biden administration to toughen sanctions on Russian oil shipments and questioned an exception issued to the world’s largest oilfield company, SLB, to operate in the country.
Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the US and European countries have sought to cut Moscow’s energy revenue for fighting the war through sanctions. That prompted several oilfield service companies to leave Russia but SLB has remained operating in the country, helping keep Russian oil production flowing.
The 52 legislators, including Democratic Representatives Jake Auchincloss and Lloyd Doggett and Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, said that since the invasion in February 2022, SLB had signed new contracts, recruited hundreds of staff, and imported nearly $18-million in equipment into Russia.
“This US-based company is keeping Vladimir Putin’s war machine well-oiled with financing for the barbaric invasion of Ukraine. We urge you to continue supporting our Ukrainian allies by pursuing more rigorous oil sanctions to effectively restrict Putin’s profits,” the legislators said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Last year, SLB received 5% of its revenue from Russia. It had 10,000 employees in Russia helping energy firms pump oil and gas when the war began in 2022.
Moldova’s Sandu secures EU vote win after ‘unfair fight’
President Maia Sandu said on Monday Moldovans had won a “first battle in a difficult fight” for their future, a day after a slim majority of 50.46% backed EU accession in a referendum that was clouded by allegations of Russia-backed meddling.
The knife-edge finish was a shock for supporters of Sandu, who had hoped the vote would deliver a firm message of intent to bring the ex-Soviet agricultural economy into the European Union by 2030 and leave Moscow’s orbit for good.
“The people of Moldova have spoken: Our EU future will now be anchored in the constitution. We fought fairly in an unfair fight — and we won,” wrote Sandu on X.
The result means a clause will be added to the constitution defining EU accession as a goal. Moldova began the long process of formal accession talks in June.
In a presidential election held alongside the referendum, Sandu won 42.45%, short of the 50% needed to win outright and paving the way for a 3 November runoff against former prosecutor-general Alexandr Stoianoglo, who won 25.98%.
Earlier, Sandu (52) had told Moldovans there was “clear evidence” that criminal groups backed by “foreign forces hostile to our national interests” had aimed to buy off 300,000 votes.
“Criminal groups. .. have attacked our country with tens of millions of euros, lies and propaganda, using the most disgraceful means to keep our citizens and our nation trapped in uncertainty and instability,” she said.
In the run-up to the vote, authorities said there had been Moscow-backed meddling attempts spearheaded by fugitive tycoon Ilan Shor, including an effort to bribe 130,000 people to vote “no” and support a specific candidate at the election. Shor denies wrongdoing.
The Kremlin, which denies interfering, denounced the votes in Moldova as “unfree”, casting doubt on what it said was a “hard-to-explain” increase in votes in favour of Sandu and the EU, and challenging her to “present evidence” of meddling.
The EU defended Sandu and said Moldova had faced “unprecedented intimidation and foreign interference by Russia and its proxies ahead of this vote”.
Moldova’s twin votes came ahead of next Saturday’s closely contested parliamentary election in Georgia, another former Soviet republic that aspires to join the EU, but which Russia sees as part of its historical sphere of influence.
Russia hits Kyiv with drone attacks for second night in a row
Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with several waves of drones for the second night in a row, damaging residential buildings and injuring at least one civilian, said Ukrainian officials on Monday.
Two civilians were killed and 15 were injured in a separate ballistic missile attack on Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine on Monday morning, said local authorities.
The Ukrainian military said air defences downed 59 out of 116 Russian drones launched overnight. The military lost track of 45 drones that probably fell into Ukrainian territory, it said.
“Another night, another worry,” said Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, on Telegram. “The enemy does not reduce the intensity of air attacks on Ukraine and Kyiv.”
The military said several attacks hit civilian infrastructure.
About 10 drones targeting the capital in several waves and from different directions were destroyed, said Popko. While none of the weapons hit their target, falling debris injured at least one man, he added.
Debris fell onto three of Kyiv’s main districts, damaging some roofs and the facades of several residential buildings and power cables, said Mayor Vitali Klitschko on Telegram.
Russia also struck Zaporizhzhia on Monday morning, said Governor Ivan Fedorov on Telegram.
“Seven people were wounded and more than 30 houses were damaged. These are the preliminary consequences of the enemy attack on Zaporizhzhia,” he said.
Later he said the number of wounded had risen to 15 and two were killed.
In a separate attack on Kryviy Rih in east Ukraine, five people were injured and several multistorey buildings, shops, a post office and a pharmacy were damaged.
The attacks followed Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities on Sunday, which injured 17 people in a central Ukrainian city.
UAE president tells Putin: we are ready to help make peace
United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan told Putin on Monday that he was ready to support efforts to find peace in Ukraine.
Putin met Sheikh Mohammed for informal talks on Sunday that went on until midnight at his residence outside Moscow.
“We continue to make efforts to mediate the exchange of prisoners,” Sheikh Mohammed told Putin in the Kremlin, through a translator.
“And I assure you that we will continue to work in this direction. We are ready to make any efforts to resolve crises and in the interests of peace, in the interests of both sides.” DM