First and second, links to Associated Press and Reuters summaries related to the war, both linked to other stories from the two news services. Then, added this afternoon, a New York Times report from yesterday carried in a number of dailies including the Seattle Times. Next, a link to a piece of commentary from Off-Guardian concerning rationing of energy in Italy and its connection with the war and global warming. Finally, via anti-war.com, one writer’s context for Russia’s “criminal invasion” of Ukraine. — MCM
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Ukraine leader pushes for more arms: U.S. officials to visit, by David Keyton | The Associated Press KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed the West for more powerful weapons as he prepared to meet with top U.S. officials in the war-torn country’s capital today, while Russian forces concentrated their attacks on the east, including trying to dislodge the last Ukrainian troops in the battered port of Mariupol. Zelenskyy announced the planned visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at a news conference Saturday night in a Kyiv subway station. . . . Zelenskyy said he was looking for the Americans to produce results, both in arms and security guarantees. “You can’t come to us empty-handed today, and we are expecting not just presents or some kind of cakes, we are expecting specific things and specific weapons,″ . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine to call for heavy arms when top U.S. officials visit Kyiv, by Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets | Reuters * West has been sending more powerful arms to Ukraine * Ukrainians mark Orthodox Easter across Europe * Ukraine says destruction of churches disrupt celebrations * Moscow says military sites hit, Kyiv says children killed | KYIV — Ukraine will ask U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin for more powerful weapons during an expected visit by the officials to Kyiv on today, seeking to build the country’s defences against the Russian invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country would overcome “dark times,” in an emotional address at Kyiv’s 1,000-year-old Saint Sophia Cathedral to mark Orthodox Easter as fighting in the east overshadowed the religious celebrations. The trip by Blinken and Austin . . . would be . . . READ MORE . . .
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As Western arms pour into Ukraine, Zelenskyy promises victory, by Marc Santora, Michael Schwartz and Michael Levenson | The New York Times President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, bolstered by an influx of heavy weapons from Western nations, expressed increasing confidence Saturday that Ukraine was prepared to defeat Russian forces in what is expected to be a long and brutal battle for control of the eastern industrial heartland.“We will be able to show the occupiers that the day when they will be forced to leave Ukraine is approaching,” Zelenskyy said in an overnight address to the nation. The statement seemed to mark a decisive shift for Zelenskyy, who has spent months begging and shaming allies to provide Ukraine with longer-range, heavy weapons to repel Russian forces as they assault the east in the latest offensive in . . . READ MORE . . .
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‘Operation Thermostat’: Energy rationing & the pivot from Ukraine to climate? by Kit Knightly | Off-Guardian Italy is officially becoming the first country to start rationing energy after cutting their supply of Russian gas and oil. From next month, until at least March 2023, public buildings across the nation will be banned from running air conditioning at lower than 25 degrees, or heating higher than 19 degrees [Celsius]. The plan, termed “Operation Thermostat” in the press, is being sold as a way for ordinary people to show “solidarity” with the people of Ukraine, with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi saying: “Do we want to have peace or do we want to have the air conditioning on?” . . . READ MORE . . .
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Minsk II: Two Words You’ll Never Hear on Mainstream News, by Walt Zlotow | Heartland Progressive Ask a hundred Americans and you’ll be lucky to find even one who’s ever heard of Minsk II. But ask those same Americans how the Ukraine war started, and you’ll likely get “Russian President Putin woke up one day and decided to re-establish the Soviet empire, starting with Ukraine.” That is because our government and its slavishly loyal media have created a false narrative for maximum propaganda to support pouring billions in weaponry into the Ukraine war zone, ensuring that death and destruction will proceed endlessly. Minsk II was the 2015 agreement hammered out by Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany to end the . . . READ MORE . . .