Ukrainian Preident Volodymyr Zelensky right and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres give a joint press conference after their talks in Kyiv on April 28, 2022. SERGEI SUPINSKY AFP WASHINGTON KYIV Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres discussed the evacuation of people from the besieged city of Mariupol on Thursday, the presidential press service reported.
After the meeting, Zelensky said Ukraine is ready for urgent talks to evacuate people from Mariupol and hopes that the participation of the UN secretary-general will help the evacuation efforts.
Zelensky said that the territory of the Azovstal plant is under barbaric bombing by the Russian army despite the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin about the alleged cessation of hostilities in Mariupol.
He said that the UN chiefs should make efforts to stop the deportation of Ukrainian citizens to Russia and return home Ukrainians from Russia.
Guterres said he is doing his best to save people in Mariupol.
The UN chief said that we will continue to call for a complete ceasefire, as well as immediate practical measures to save lives and minimize human suffering.
He stressed the need for effective humanitarian corridors from Mariupol and local cessation of hostilities.
Guterres arrived in Ukraine on Wednesday to talk with Zelensky after visiting Moscow on Tuesday.
Mariupol, a key Azov Sea port city in eastern Ukraine, saw one of the worst violence in the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
US President Joe Biden spoke about the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid at the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on April 5, 2022. MANDEL NGAN AFP Biden requests $33 billion from Congress in aid to Ukraine
US President Joe Biden asked Congress to give $33 billion to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia's military operation.
Biden gave remarks from the White House about how the supplemental funding will be used. According to a fact sheet by the White House, $20.4 billion will be military and security assistance to Kyiv, $8.5 billion will be allocated for humanitarian assistance and food security funding, and targeted funding will be allocated for economic disruptions caused by the war.
The president said it's important that funding gets approved and approved as quickly as possible.
Biden proposed legislation that would hold Russian oligarchs accountable for their alleged role in supporting the military operation. According to a fact sheet by the White House, the proposed legislation will improve the ability of the United States to use forfeited funds to remediate the harms to Ukraine caused by Russia's military operation.
In an effort to assuade speculations over the use of nuclear weapons as the hostility between Russia and Western powers shows no signs of abating, Biden said no one should be making idle comments about the use of nuclear weapons or the possibility of the need to use them. He criticized Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for making irresponsible remarks about the possibility of a nuclear war.
In an interview on Monday, Lavrov told Russian media that preventing nuclear war is Moscow's key position on which we base everything. The risks are large. He said that he would not want to elevate those risks artificially.