For today, links to reports from the Associated Press, Agence France-Press, Reuters, Tass, the Kyiv Post, the Kyiv Independent, Reuters, and Foreign Policy and to commentary from Consortium News; others are accessible by clicking on their names below, although FP may require a subscription. (GAZA entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM
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Switzerland to host a Ukraine peace conference in June and hopes Russia can join one day, by Jamey Keaten | AP GENEVA — Switzerland’s government said today it will host a high-level international conference in June to help chart a path toward peace in Ukraine. The June 15-16 gathering is expected to draw top government officials from dozens of countries including President Biden of the United States. READ MORE . .
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Russia will not take part in Ukraine peace talks in Switzerland: minister. From AFP. Russia will not take part in a Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland in mid-June, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said today, stressing the aim to include Moscow in future talks. READ MORE . . .
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Russia slams planned peace conference as U.S. project. From AFP. Russia’s foreign ministry today criticised plans to hold a Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland as a futile initiative of the U.S. Democratic Party ahead of this year’s U.S. presidential election. “American Democrats, who need . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russia targets Ukrainian energy sites in overnight attacks. From AFP. Russia hit two energy sites in aerial strikes on southern Ukraine overnight, officials said today, the latest in Moscow’s targeted attacks against the country’s power network. Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said . . . READ MORE . . .
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U.S. general warns time running out for Ukraine without U.S. aid, by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali | Reuters WASHINGTON — The top U.S. general in Europe told Congress today that Ukraine will run out of artillery shells and air defense interceptors “in fairly short order” without U.S. support, leaving them vulnerable to a partial or total defeat. Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commander of . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russian troops wipe out Ukrainian depot with 32 howitzers, 2 UAV assembly workshops. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian troops destroyed a Ukrainian storage facility with 32 howitzers and two UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) assembly workshops over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry said today. Its statement . . . READ MORE . . .
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‘Ukraine has plan for counteroffensive, but modern weapons needed’: Zelensky, by Julia Struck | Kyiv Post In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed that Ukraine has devised a plan for a new counteroffensive, stressing the critical need for modern weapons. “Yes, Russia has more people, more weapons. But the united West has . . . READ MORE . . .
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Almost 3 quarters of Germany’s arms exports in 2024 intended for Ukraine, by Dinara Khalilova and news desk | The Kyiv Independent From Jan. 1 to March 27, the German government approved the export of military goods worth at least 4.89 billion euros (around $5.3 billion), with almost three-quarters of this amount intended for Ukraine, the German news agency DPA reported today. Germany has become . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM APRIL 9 U.S. to sell to Ukraine $138 million in HAWK air defense upgrades, by Mike Stone | Reuters WASHINGTON — The United States will sell Ukraine up to $138 million worth of equipment to maintain and upgrade its HAWK air defense systems to help defend against Russian drone and cruise missile attacks, a U.S. State Department official said Tuesday. READ MORE . . .
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FROM APRIL 9 Ukraine’s cheap drones are decimating Russia’s tanks, by Jack Detsch | Foreign Policy In the third year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, first-person-view (FPV) drones have become nearly ubiquitous on the Ukrainian battlefield. Many of them can carry 10 pounds of explosives or more, and after nearly 780 days of nonstop war . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM APRIL 8 Kagan’s last bugle for ruinous empire, by Bruce Fein | Special to Consortium News Whom the gods would destroy, they have first listen to Robert Kagan. Kagan postulates in a profusion of books and articles that Americans are God’s chosen people, that the United States is . . . READ MORE . . .