Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Ukraine to Allies: Please Give us One Per Cent of Your GDP to Fight Russia

"One per cent of Western Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a worthy sacrifice to defeat
Russia says a Ukraine spokesman.
Ukraine very much appreciates the near-$37 billion the United States is already giving in military aid but more — much more, in fact — is needed, a Ukrainian diplomat now working as a full-time procurer of military equipment has said.
Andrij Melnyk, who is becoming well known beyond the borders of Ukraine for his persistent campaigning to push the envelope on military donations to Ukraine and being one of the loudest voices demanding larger numbers of tanks, Western jets, and even warships, made the comments on a German television political show this week, where he said Western nations had to cross their own “red lines” to send more equipment. 
To fight Russia, Ukaine’s allies should “pledge one per cent of their [GDP] to the attacked country”, Germany’s Die Welt reports Melnyk as having suggested." Breitbart

Italy's Meloni To Pull Trigger On Belt & Road Exit In Major Blow To China

"The government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is readying plans to pull the trigger on a formal exit from China's controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), estimated at having funded $900 billion in infrastructure projects globally. The past weeks have seen increasing reports that Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party has been spearheading a move away from the BRI." ZH

Polish Freight Carriers Block Ukrainian Border Crossing Over Unfair Trade

"In the latest backlash to preferential trade for Ukraine, Polish freight carriers have been
blocking one of the
Poland-Ukraine border crossings over the past week. The protesters, who have rejected an offer from the Ukrainian infrastructure ministry to allow Polish drivers to bring EU goods to Ukraine without permits, have demanded the reinstatement of the mutual entry permit program which was suspended when the war in Ukraine broke out. According to the report, several dozen Polish protesters are only allowing five lorries per hour to enter Poland from Ukraine at the crossing in Dorohusk - leaving truck drivers waiting for between six and ten days. RafaƂ Mekler, regional leader of the far-right Confederation party and the owner of a trucking company protesting in Dorohusk, noted that Kyiv’s decision to suspend the permits shows that “the Ukrainian side interprets as it wishes what it has agreed to”." ZH

Ukraine’s Air Force launches 16 strikes on enemy positions

"Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched 16 strikes on enemy personnel and
military equipment clusters....The enemy continues to concentrate its main efforts on Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, and Maryinka directions. Heavy battles are fought for the cities of Bakhmut and Maryinka."
Ukrin

Angry mob surrounds Russian ambassador in Warsaw

"An angry crowd has prevented the Russian ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev, from
laying a wreath at a military cemetery in Warsaw on Victory Day."
RT