BRUSSELS — The NATO military alliance is affirming its commitment to stand by Ukraine and help it defeat Russia on the first anniversary of Moscow's full-scale invasion.
“We remain determined to maintain coordinated international pressure on Russia,” ambassadors from the 30 alliance countries said in a statement Friday.
“Russia’s efforts to break the resolve of the brave people of Ukraine are failing. One year on, Ukrainians are fighting valiantly for freedom and independence. We stand with them.”
The envoys also reaffirmed their “iron-clad” intent to come to the defense of any member country should Russia consider broadening the war.
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS:
— Ukraine leader pledges push for victory on war anniversary
— China calls for Russia-Ukraine cease-fire, peace talks
— Joy amid sorrow: 1st birthdays muted for Ukrainian parents
— Tallying Ukraine toll an elusive task
— Follow AP’s coverage of the war anniversary in Ukraine
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s defense chief has congratulated the country’s armed forces for rebuffing an enemy “that terrified the whole world,” referring to Russia's failed attempt to launch a full-scale invasion that would take control of Ukraine.
“Our soldiers and the entire Ukrainian people took up a fight many in the world considered hopeless,” Oleksiy Reznikov said in an address posted on Facebook on Friday.
“You rebuffed the enemy’s army, which terrified the whole world. But it turned out to be powerless against Ukrainians, who are defending their home and their loved ones, fighting for their land,” he added.
Reznikov said Kyiv will fight until it takes back all territory captured or annexed by Russia, and until the danger from Moscow is “eliminated.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s army chief, Valery Zaluzhny, says his country's resilience against Russia's invasion “rests on our people,”
“Ordinary heroes among us. They are people who took up arms to protect their families, their homes and their state from the enemy’s unprovoked and unjustified aggression," he wrote on Facebook Friday.
"They are people who are now, at this moment, beating back the occupier, holding the line, freezing in our cold but dear, native land, saving the lives of their compatriots, helping the army however they can,” he wrote.
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The five Nordic prime ministers say Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “has caused unimaginable suffering, death, and destruction on a scale not seen on our continent since World War II.”
In a joint statement on the one-year anniversary of the invasion, the government leaders of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden said that “Russia’s brutal aggression” was “the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades.”
The consequences of the war “are felt far and wide. Economic stability, energy and food security are seriously threatened with severe consequences for the least developed countries,” they said.
“Ukraine’s struggle is our struggle,” they said in the statement.
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WASHINGTON — White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan during a CNN town hall on Thursday confirmed that Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volydymyr Zelenskyy discussed Ukraine’s request for fighter jets during the U.S. president’s recent visit to Kyiv.
Zelenskyy has asked the U.S. for F-16s, something that Biden has declined to supply.
Sullivan underscored that the administration has been focused on providing Ukraine with the weaponry they believe is most needed in the current and coming stages of the war.
He suggested, however, that the F-16 request could be revisited.
“They’re about to mount a significant counteroffense,” Sullivan noted, referring to expectations that Ukraine will mount a spring offensive. “From our perspective, F-16s are not the key capability for that offensive. It is the stuff that we are moving rapidly to the front lines now.”
