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WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The top Republican on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Wednesday he was blocking a $735 million arms sale to Hungary because its government has refused to approve Sweden's bid to join NATO. "Hungary should take the actions necessary to allow Sweden into the alliance, and soon," he said. Under U.S. law, major arms deals are reviewed by the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee. Sweden applied last year to join NATO as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Objections from Turkey and Hungary have delayed the bid and Sweden now hopes to join by a NATO summit in Lithuania next month.

Persons: Jim Risch, Jens Stoltenberg, Joe Biden, Patricia Zengerle, Gergely Szakacs, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Republican, U.S . Senate Foreign Relations, NATO, U.S, Republicans, Senate Foreign Relations, Representatives Foreign, Committee, Washington Post, Hungarian Defense Ministry, White, Thomson Locations: Hungary, Sweden, Washington, U.S, Ukraine, Turkey, Lithuania, Budapest

☆ NATO pushes for common standards to tackle shortfalls in artillery munitions
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Sabine Siebold | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

But the lack of common standards among the various manufacturers has hampered the flow of munitions supplies. It will take place on the sidelines of a NATO defence ministers' meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. Demand for 155mm artillery rounds has soared in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. "If national governments could bring themselves to throw national standards over board and agree on common NATO standards – in particular with regard to munitions – this would be a landslide change," the defence source said. Before that many NATO countries had already run down their stocks as governments considered wars of attrition with big artillery battles a thing of the past.

Persons: Caesar, Jens Stoltenberg, KMW, Leonardo, Northrop, Abrams, Armin Papperger, Sabine Siebold, Gwladys Fouche, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Separate Artillery Brigade, REUTERS, NATO, BAE Systems, Turkish, Dynamics, Leopard, Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, British Storm Shadow, Rheinmetall, RND, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Avdiivka, Donetsk region, BRUSSELS, Kyiv, NATO, Brussels, Kongsberg, Vilnius, Oslo

An indictment is the formal notification that a grand jury has brought charges against a defendant. A grand jury is convened in some criminal cases to decide if prosecutors have enough evidence to go to trial. With that vote, 76-year-old Trump became the first former US president ever to be indicted on criminal felony charges in American history. Federally, like in Trump's Miami case, all felony charges are also presented to a grand jury for a similar process. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty ImagesWhy was Trump indicted — twice?

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Trump, Stormy Daniels, Jack Smith, Mark Bederow, Bederow, that's, Jens Stoltenberg, NICHOLAS KAMM, Daniels, Michael Cohen, Trump's, Cohen, Waltine Organizations: Service, Trump, US Department of Justice, Nato, Winfield House, Getty, Justice, Mar, National Archives Locations: Manhattan, Mar, New York, York, Trump's Miami, London

He has also said that there could be "nuclear weapons for everyone" who joined the Russia-Belarus union. Putin said Russia would remain in control of the weapons just as the United States controls its own tactical nuclear weapons deployed in Europe. Putin has repeatedly raised concerns about the 200 U.S. B61 tactical nuclear warheads deployed at bases in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Turkey. Russia's nuclear weapons are controlled and transported by the 12th Main Directorate of the defence ministry (12th GUMO). By putting nuclear weapons back in Belarus, Putin is showing that the architecture of post-Cold War nuclear arms control is crumbling.

Persons: Stringer, Vladimir Putin, Moscow's, Putin, Pavel Zarubin, Su, Lukashenko, Jens Stoltenberg, Guy Faulconbridge, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Kremlin, Street, Ukraine, Sukhoi, of American, WHO, United, NATO, B61, U.S, 12th, Directorate, State Department, Thomson Locations: Kakhovka, Nikopol, Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk region, MOSCOW, Belarus, Russia, Soviet Union, Britain, United States, Belarusian, Lida, Lithuanian, Europe, U.S, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Kazakhstan, States

☆ Biden postpones NATO leader meeting after root canal treatment
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden postponed a meeting with the head of NATO and skipped his other public events on Monday to undergo his second root canal procedure in as many days, the White House said. Biden reported tooth pain on Sunday, prompting an X-ray examination and root canal treatment by a team from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, according to a letter from his physician that was distributed to the press. Root canal procedures are common to treat infected teeth that cause pain, especially for older adults, said Asgeir Sigurdsson, endodontics chair at New York University's College of Dentistry. Biden previously underwent root canal procedures in the 1990s, as a senator overseeing the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for now Justice Clarence Thomas. NATO LEADER SEARCH HEATS UPA meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and a reception for diplomatic personnel were rescheduled for Tuesday.

Persons: Joe Biden, Karine Jean, Pierre, Biden, Kevin O'Connor, Kamala Harris, Asgeir Sigurdsson, endodontics, Sigurdsson, Clarence Thomas, Jens Stoltenberg, Harris, Stoltenberg, Trevor Hunnicutt, Tyler Clifford, Doina, Jonathan Oatis, Grant McCool Organizations: NATO, White, Walter Reed National Military Medical, Constitution, New York University's College of Dentistry, United, Thomson Locations: U.S, New, United States, Europe, Ukraine, Russia

☆ Question of who will take over NATO looms as Biden meets alliance’s chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —As President Joe Biden prepares to sit down Monday with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, a personnel issue will be looming: Who will replace the outgoing NATO leader when he departs his post later this year? He’s already received a pitch on United Kingdom Defense Minister Ben Wallace from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during an Oval Office meeting last week. A person familiar with the matter said Sunak entered the meeting prepared to sell Biden on Wallace, though afterward Biden told reporters he wasn’t yet convinced. Other candidates for NATO secretary general could include Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, according to diplomats. Finland’s membership was finalized in April, but Turkey has remained resistant to Sweden joining the defense alliance.

Persons: Joe Biden, Jens Stoltenberg, Biden, Stoltenberg, – NATO’s, He’s, Ben Wallace, Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Wallace, “ We’re, ”, “, haven’t, Mette Frederiksen, Frederiksen, Mark Rutte, Kaja Kallas, doesn’t, It’s Organizations: Washington CNN, NATO, United Kingdom Defense, British, Danish, Dutch, Estonian Locations: Lithuania, Ukraine, Finland, Sweden, Turkey

☆ The destruction of a major Ukrainian dam could have grave consequences. Here’s what we know so far
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

A partially flooded area of Kherson on June 6, 2023, following damage sustained at the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam. "The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that they must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land. "As a result of detonation of the engine room from the inside, the Kakhovskaya [hydroelectric power plant] was completely destroyed. 'No immediate risk' to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plantThe U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said it was closely monitoring the situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station.

Persons: Dmitry Peskov, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy, Ukrhydroenergo, Nova Kakhovka, Peter Stano, Jens Stoltenberg, meanwhile, Rafael Grossi, Grossi, Carl Court Organizations: Anadolu Agency, Getty, Google, Tass, CNBC, NBC News, Internal Affairs Ministry, Afp, National Security and Defense Council, European Commission, Ukraine, European Union, NATO, Twitter, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Carl Locations: Russian, Ukraine's Kherson, Ukraine, Nova Kakhovka, Moscow, Nova, Crimean, Russia, Kherson, Ukrainian, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Russia says it thwarted large-scale offensive in Donetsk; Ukraine says it is moving forward into Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Turkey, Finland and Sweden will meet on June 12 to discuss Stockholm's bid to join the NATO military alliance, which has so far been stalled by Ankara's objections, according to a NATO statement released on Sunday. The announcement followed a meeting of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and newly reelected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul. Finland and Sweden renounced their long-standing policy of political neutrality following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and jointly applied for NATO membership in June last year. Finland was accepted and joined the military organization in April. Stockholm's accession has been delayed by Turkish concerns that Sweden harbors militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which Ankara, the United States, the EU and others designated as a terrorist organization.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Stockholm's Organizations: NATO, Kurdistan Workers ' Party Locations: Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Istanbul, Ukraine, Ankara, United States, EU

☆ Stoltenberg says Swedish NATO deal can be reached after more talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Burcu Karakas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ISTANBUL, June 4 (Reuters) - An agreement on Sweden joining NATO could be reached in time for a summit of the alliance next month in Lithuania, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. He also said officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland would meet later this month for talks to try to overcome objections from Turkey and Hungary that have delayed Sweden's NATO membership bid. Stoltenberg's talks in Istanbul with Erdogan took place a week after Erdogan extended his two-decade rule in an election. Stoltenberg told Reuters in an interview it was important to use the remaining time before the NATO summit in Vilnius in July to get a deal. In its objections to Swedish membership, Turkey has said Stockholm harbours members of militant groups it considers to be terrorists.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Tayyip Erdogan, Stoltenberg's, Erdogan, Stoltenberg, Huseyin Hayatsever, Andrew Gray, Sabine Siebold, Hugh Lawson, Barbara Lewis Organizations: NATO, Reuters, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Kurdistan Workers ' Party, Thomson Locations: ISTANBUL, Sweden, Lithuania, Turkey, Finland, Hungary, Istanbul, Russia, Ukraine, Vilnius, Stockholm, Ankara, Brussels

☆ Turkey's Erdogan to take oath, name new-look cabinet
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Huseyin Hayatsever | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Turkey's longest serving leader, Erdogan garnered 52.2% support in the May 28 runoff vote. The new parliament convened on Friday and Erdogan will officially start his new term by taking his oath on Saturday at around 3 p.m. (1200 GMT) in the general assembly in Ankara. Simsek was highly regarded by investors when he served as finance minister and deputy prime minister between 2009 and 2018. Erdogan, 69, became prime minister in 2003 after his AK Party won an election in late 2002 following the worst economic crisis of Turkey since the 1970s. In his victory speech, Erdogan said inflation, which hit a 24-year peak of 85% last year before easing, was Turkey's most urgent issue.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Jens Stoltenberg, Nicolas Maduro, Viktor Orban, Nikol Pashinyan, Mehmet Simsek, Simsek, Huseyin Hayatsever, Jonathan Spicer, Frances Kerry Organizations: NATO, Armenian, Anadolu Agency, Reuters, AK Party, Thomson Locations: ANKARA, Ankara, Hungarian, Turkey

☆ China objects to NATO labelling it a "threat" - embassy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, June 3 (Reuters) - China "strongly opposes" NATO repeatedly labelling it a threat, China's embassy to Norway said on Saturday, referring to remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a recent visit to the Scandinavian country. "China urges NATO to stop stirring up regional conflicts and creating divisions and unrest," the embassy said in a statement. Stoltenberg had accused China of threatening neighbouring countries and suppressing countries that do not comply with it, according to the embassy release. "It is clear to the international community who the real threat to regional and global peace is." Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Robert Birsel Organizations: NATO, Shanghai, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, China, Norway, Asia

☆ 'Path is open' for Ukraine to join NATO -British defence minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Gerry Doyle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SINGAPORE, June 2 (Reuters) - Britain supports adding Ukraine to NATO and "that path is open" to them, although political realities may slow the process, Defence Minister Ben Wallace said on Friday on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meetings in Singapore. "The best thing we can do to help Ukraine is now to help them defeat Russia," Wallace said in an interview. Ukraine's membership of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, is on the agenda for the group's July summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Hanna Shelest, director of Ukrainian Prism, a think tank specialising in foreign policy and international security, said in Singapore that NATO membership would be a political decision. "We are not expecting to see a strong decision (about Ukraine’s membership) at Vilnius," said Shelest, who is based in Ukraine.

Persons: Ben Wallace, Wallace, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Hanna Shelest, Shelest, Li Shangfu, Lloyd Austin, Jens Stoltenberg, Gerry Doyle, Kanupriya Kapoor, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: NATO, Defence, Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Kyiv, Storm, U.S, Defense, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Britain, Ukraine, Singapore, Russia, Vilnius, Lithuania, Ukrainian, Moscow, London, Asia, United States, Australia, China

OSLO, June 1 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday he would soon travel to Turkey to discuss Sweden's NATO membership, in a bid to close a process that has been delayed due to objections from member countries Turkey and Hungary. Speaking during a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo, Stoltenberg said he had spoken to Tayyip Erdogan earlier this week, who at the weekend won re-election as Turkey's president. "I will also travel to Ankara in the near future to continue to address how we can ensure the fastest possible accession of Sweden," Stoltenberg told reporters. "It is time for Turkey and Hungary to start the ratification of Swedish membership to NATO." Several NATO foreign ministers expressed confidence Sweden could become a member before, or at, a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Tayyip Erdogan, Sweden, Tobias Billstrom, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Gwladys Fouche, Sabine Siebold, Terje Solsvik Organizations: NATO, Lithuanian, Thomson Locations: OSLO, Turkey, Hungary, Oslo, Ankara, Sweden, Swedish, Vilnius, Lithuania

☆ British PM Rishi Sunak says Ukraine's rightful place is in NATO
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Thursday that Ukraine's "rightful place" is within the NATO military alliance. Sunak said he agreed with comments made earlier Thursday by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg that Ukraine is on the path toward NATO membership. "I agree with the NATO Secretary-General: Ukraine's rightful place is in NATO," Sunak told CNBC's Silvia Amaro. Britain's prime minister said that allied nations were sending a "strong signal" to Russian President Vladimir Putin that they would safeguard Ukraine's security arrangements for the long term. Sunak was speaking in Moldova, where heads of state from EU and non-EU countries are gathered for the second annual meeting of the European Political Community.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Jens Stoltenberg, Ukraine's, CNBC's Silvia Amaro, Britain's, Vladimir Putin, we're Organizations: NATO, EU, Political Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Moldova, EU

☆ Moscow does not have a 'veto against NATO enlargement,' NATO's Stoltenberg says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference to present the next North Atlantic Council (NAC) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 3, 2023. Kenzo Tribouillard | AFP | Getty ImagesNATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that all NATO allies agree that Russia cannot prevent Ukraine's eventual membership of the military alliance. Speaking to reporters ahead of an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo, Stoltenberg said all allies agreed that "NATO's door is open for new members." "All allies also agree that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance, and all allies agree that it is for the NATO allies and Ukraine to decide when Ukraine becomes a member," he said. "It is not for Moscow to have a veto against NATO enlargement, but most importantly, all allies agree that the most urgent and important task now is to ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent nation.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Kenzo Tribouillard, Stoltenberg, Vladimir, Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy Organizations: NATO, North Atlantic Council, NAC, Foreign Affairs, AFP, Getty, Political Locations: Brussels, Russia, Oslo, Ukraine, Moscow, Vilnius, Lithuania, EU, NATO, Moldova, Europe

☆ NATO peacekeepers secure Kosovo town halls in standoff with Serb protesters
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] U.S. KFOR soldiers stand guard in front of the municipality office, while ethnic Serbs gather to protest, in the town of Leposavic, Kosovo, May 29, 2023. KFOR troops also acted to protect the town halls in Zubin Potok and North Mitrovica from possible threats. Serbs refused to take part in local elections in April and ethnic Albanian candidates won the mayoralties in four Serb-majority municipalities with a 3.5% turnout. Serbs have called on the Kosovo government to remove ethnic Albanian mayors from town halls and allow local administrations financed by Belgrade return to their duties. NATO peacekeepers deployed in Kosovo after the alliance's 1999 bombing campaign that drove Serbian security forces out of Serbia's then-southern province, ending a brutal counter-insurgency campaign.

☆ Russia is claiming victory in Bakhmut, but the price it paid for it 'doesn't bode well' for Putin's bigger plans, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Russian forces are claiming victory in Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. Russian leadership praised Wagner for its achievements in the devastated city of Bakhmut and promised the presentation of state awards. Casualty estimates likely skew significantly higher for Russian forces. AdvertisementAdvertisementBy April 11, Russian forces occupied over 76 percent of the city, according to a terrain assessment from the ISW think tank. An aerial view of Bakhmut, the site of heavy battles with Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, March 26, 2023.

Persons: it's, —, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Gen, Oleksandr Syrskiy, Bakhmut, Wagner, ISW, Russia's, Vladimir Putin's, bode, Jeffrey Edmonds, Jens Stoltenberg, Marina Miron, Zelenskyy, Putin, Miron, Edmonds Organizations: Military, Service, Wagner Group, Institute for, CIA, AP Moscow, Russian, NATO, CNN, Moscow, AP, King's College London's Centre, Military Ethics, Bakhmut Locations: Bakhmut, Ukraine's Donetsk, Ukrainian, Moscow, Washington, Ukraine, Berlin, Soviet, Stalingrad, Russia, Kyiv, Donbas, Donetsk, Kramatorsk, Moreso

☆ A secretive annual meeting attended by the world's elite has A.I. top of the agenda
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is one among a number of business and political leaders set to join the annual Bilderberg Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will join forces with key leadership from firms like Microsoft and Google this week as a secretive meeting of the business and political elite kickstarts in Lisbon, Portugal. Artificial intelligence will top the agenda as the ChatGPT chief meets with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, DeepMind head Demis Hassabis, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt at the annual Bilderberg meeting. All in, around 130 participants from 23 countries are set to attend the private meeting — a similar number to previous years. However, the event's organizers say that the discrete nature of the event is to allow for greater freedom of discussion.

Seoul, South Korea CNN —Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska asked South Korea to provide non-lethal military hardware when she met with President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on Tuesday, both countries have reported. But an official from Yoon’s office said Zelenska stopped short of asking for lethal weapons, acknowledging that South Korea would have found it difficult to oblige had any such request been made. Since the war broke out in Ukraine, South Korea has maintained its stance of not providing lethal weapons to a warring country, although Yoon has hinted at a possible major policy shift. The Ukrainian first lady handed Yoon “a personal letter and an invitation from the president of Ukraine” to visit her country, the Ukrainian side said. Last year, she met US first lady Jill Biden privately at the White House to discuss American support for Ukraine.

☆ How will we know when Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive has started? Experts say look for the Western armor.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But military experts say Kyiv's use of Western armor will signal the start of a larger offensive. "The Ukrainian counteroffensive, I think, is going to start with a bang, literally and figuratively," Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine Corps Reserve colonel, told Insider. Ukraine's expected counterpunch will come on the heels of what turned out to be a lackluster offensive carried out by Russian forces during the winter. The armored vehicles in particular are expected to help Ukraine hit hard and exploit gains quickly with shock, firepower, and mobility. You want to keep the Russian armed forces guessing as to, is this actually the commitment of their main forces?"

☆ A Ukrainian counterattack has the Wagner boss sounding alarms on a counteroffensive in 'full swing,' claiming Zelenskyy played everyone
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Chris Panella | Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Wagner boss Prigozhin said on Thursday that Ukraine's "counteroffensive is in full swing." On his social media channels, Prigozhin accused Zelenskyy of lying when he said in a media interview that Ukraine needed more time before it could carry out a counteroffensive. Ukrainian forces signaled that they carried out "effective counterattacks" that forced some Russian soldiers to retreat. Zelenskyy, in a recent interview with public service broadcasters part of Eurovision News, said Ukraine still needs more time before a counteroffensive. Ukraine's combat brigades were "ready," Zelenskyy said, but his military still needs "some things" like armored vehicles that had been "arriving in batches."

☆ Russia's irregular commanders, like the Wagner boss, are trying to force a top general's hand and risking throwing operations into chaos, war experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Irregular commanders, like Prigozhin, appear to be calling more of the shots in Ukraine, war experts say. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the group's founder, and his fighters have routinely criticized Russia's top military officials over their handling of Russia's faltering war in Ukraine. In threatening to do so, the two "likely effectively blackmailed" Russia's military command into giving resources to Wagner, the ISW said in a Monday assessment. Graves of Russian Wagner mercenary group fighters are seen in a cemetery near the village of Bakinskaya in Krasnodar region, Russia, on January 22, 2023. Meanwhile, Prigozhin marked the occasion by feuding with Russia's military leadership, attacking their ability to defend the country.

CNN —The US has announced a $1.2 billion aid package to Ukraine intended to “bolster its air defenses” and “sustain its artillery ammunition needs,” with Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces looming. Instead of supplying Ukraine with the weapons it currently needs, USAI packages are intended to create a medium- and long-term supply for Ukraine. With the new package announcement, the US has committed $37.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration, including $36.9 billion since the beginning of the war in February 2022. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in late April that the Ukrainian military is almost finished preparing for its counteroffensive against Russian forces. But even after the Ukrainian counteroffensive begins, the US will continue to send military aid to Ukraine, according to a US military official, both to sustain Ukraine’s military force against dug-in Russian troops and to provide new equipment.

☆ Ukraine's risky gamble in Bakhmut may be paying off as infighting in Russia's ranks threatens its hopes of capturing the city, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Jake Epstein | Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The battle has hurt Russian forces, and Wagner Group mercenaries are threatening to pull out. Wagner's withdrawal, however, suggests that Ukraine's risky decision to stay may be paying off, Russia experts told Insider. Ukrainian army snipers change their position facing Russian troops near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 2, 2023. Russian forces, including Wagner mercenaries, steadily surrounded Ukrainian positions, leaving only one road out of the city. Ukrainian army Grad multiple rocket launcher fires rockets at Russian positions in the frontline near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 3, 2023.

☆ Russia likely won't be launching any 'significant' offensive operations this year if it can't find more troops and weapons, US intel chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia and Ukraine appear to be gearing up for a Ukrainian offensive, the US intelligence chief said. She suggested Thursday that Moscow won't be able to carry out future operations without more troops and weapons. Russian forces launched an offensive earlier this year, but it faltered. Even a limited offensive could be difficult given the current situation for the Russian military. Though the figures are for all of Ukraine, the fighting in Bakhmut specifically is believed to have claimed thousands of lives.

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