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11 minutes ago
US Army Veteran Killed in Action While Fighting for Ukraine
By Sahar Akbarzai
A US Army veteran from Marshfield, Wisconsin, was killed in action on February 16 in the Ukraine, according to CNN affiliate WSAW-TV.
"We can confirm the deaths of American citizens in Ukraine," a spokesperson for the US State Department told CNN on Friday.
"We are in contact with their respective families and provide all possible consular assistance."
Andrew Peters, 28, joined the Ukrainian International Defense Legion, WSAW-TV reported.
The legion was created by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow foreign citizens to "join the resistance against the Russian occupiers and fight for global security," according to the legion's official website.
“Andrew had a strong sense of what was right and what was wrong.
He felt the need to use his previous military combat skills to help the Ukrainian people fight and liberate the country from him.
Andrew was very close to his fellow soldiers and they all liked him.
We are all extremely proud of his bravery and selfless sacrifice," Peters' parents said in a statement, according to WSAW-TV.
Peters toured Afghanistan in 2014, the affiliate said.
21 minutes ago
Biden rejects China's proposed peace plan
By Jeremy Diamond
US President Joe Biden on Friday rejected China's proposed peace plan for the war in Ukraine, suggesting that its implementation would only benefit Russia.
"If Putin is applauding him, how could that be any good?" Biden said in an interview with ABC News.
"I'm not kidding. I'm serious."
“I have not seen anything in the plan that indicates that there is anything that would be beneficial to someone other than Russia if the Chinese plan were followed,” Biden said.
Beyond his criticism of the peace plan, Biden flatly rejected the idea of China negotiating peace in war, calling it irrational.
“The idea that China is going to negotiate the outcome of a war that is totally unfair to Ukraine is just not rational,” Biden said.
Biden also weighed in on the possibility of China providing lethal weapons to Russia, something US officials have warned of in recent days.
Biden declined to describe the consequences of China arming Russia, but suggested that China would face the same "severe sanctions" as any other country or entity that has supplied Russia with weapons.
32 mins ago
Biden says Ukraine "doesn't need F-16s right now"
By DJ Judd
A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon flies over Iowa on Aug. 11, 2022. (US Air National Guard)
The US president told ABC News on Friday that Ukraine "doesn't need F-16s right now," despite reporting that Ukraine's President Volodymr Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials have intensified their lobbying campaign in recent days. public for US-made fighter jets, arguing they are badly needed to defend against Russian missile and drone attacks.
“Look, we'll send you what our experienced army thinks you need now.
He needs tanks, he needs artillery, he needs air defense, including another HIMARS," Biden told ABC News' David Muir.
"There are things he needs now that we've shipped him to put them in a position to get wins this spring and this summer before the fall."
Pressed by Zelensky's calls for the US to provide the fighter jets, Biden told Muir: "There is no basis on which there is a reason, according to our military now, to provide F16s," adding: " I rule it out for now."
Biden balked early Friday when asked by CNN's Jeremy Diamond what he told Zelensky during his visit to Kyiv about the possibility of providing F-16s, and replied: "That's a private discussion."
Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said during a forum on Thursday that the F-16 discussion occurred during the US president's surprise trip to Ukraine.
“F-16s are not an issue for short-term fighting.
The F-16s are an issue for the long-term defense of Ukraine and that is a conversation between President Biden and President Zelensky,” Sullivan said.
Some context: Ukraine's renewed public push for the planes, which Ukraine's foreign minister publicly described as a "priority" last month, appears driven in large part by a belief in Kyiv that with enough public pressure , the Ukrainians can eventually secure weapons systems that were once considered a red line to the west.
"What is impossible today is absolutely possible tomorrow," Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told NPR in January.
A Ukrainian military official extended that idea in comments to CNN, saying: "It's going to come sooner or later."
46 mins ago
Biden says there is no evidence "so far" that China is supporting Russia in Ukraine
By Donald Judd
US President Joe Biden speaks to reporters before boarding Marine One on February 24 in Washington.
(Andres Harnik/AP)
There is no evidence "so far" that China will back Russia militarily in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden said on Friday, warning that any support would have economic ramifications for Beijing.
Asked if he was concerned about China fighting Russia, the president said he had spoken with Chinese leader Xi Jinping about the issue and the economic fallout over the summer.
"And I said, 'Look, it's not a threat. It's just a statement," Biden said as he left the White House.
Biden added: “When, in fact, the Europeans saw what was happening and the Americans saw what was happening in Russia and Europe, guess what?
Six other corporations withdrew and left;
they did not want to be associated with it.
I said: 'You [Xi], you told me that China's future depends on investment from the Western world, that matters.'
I said, I'd just watch that there's no evidence that he's done it yet."
Some context: The United States has intelligence that the Chinese government is considering providing Russia with drones and munitions for use in the war in Ukraine, three sources familiar with the intelligence told CNN.
It does not appear that Beijing has made a final decision yet, the sources said, but negotiations between Russia and China on the price and scope of the equipment are ongoing.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the issue when meeting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, officials said.
"The secretary was quite direct in warning about the implications and consequences of China providing material support to Russia or assisting Russia with systematic evasion of sanctions," a senior State Department official told reporters.
war in ukraine
